Chained Echoes
by NAO-chan33
Summary: Bored of reading the typical Diamond no Ace fanfics? Want more Miyuki? Well, look no further. Check out this entirely AU cliché story that borrows Miyuki as the main male lead. (Miyuki x OC) - For the bored only. Maybe. (Real Summary INSIDE)
1. Chapter 1

**True Summary: Two girls transport into a magical world where they learn the harsh reality of discrimination, the beauty of magic, and the pains that come with love. With the danger of demons hovering over them, how long will the peace stay among the humans? Watch as Nari chains her fate with Hotaru, her best friend, and how their destiny cascades down to their two new teammates, Miyuki and Shindo - all to fight against a villain not yet known to them. (Nari x Miyuki) (Hotaru x Shindo)**

 **So the only elements that we use from BNHA and DnA are the two characters and their respective personalities: Shindo Yoh and Miyuki Kazuya. I am using Yoh, instead of Yo because if you look at the kanji and furigana of his name, it should be technically You; but since You looks weird, I decided to change it to Yoh instead.**

 **Other than that, everything is original and has nothing to do with the plots of those two animes. If you're not fond of clichés or original stories, then don't read any further.**

 **This is a personal COMPLETE project with my friend (ArashiYuki13) who acted as a co-writer of sorts, but this story was mostly for me to satisfy my inner muse in wanting to write cliché romances and lightly hitting upon some social issues. I tried to use names from various cultures, but I don't know if I did a good job with that…**

 **Anyways, I won't apologize either way if this story isn't to your tastes. So again, if you don't like it, don't read and don't comment. Keep your hate to yourself. :) I do love writer feedback, such as how to improve my writing, or comments about the characters or even the situations happening in the story though. I also love answering any questions you might have, even if it's minor or speculative. :D**

 **And if you happen to see one of the placeholder names, please let me know, so that I can fix it.**

 **Oh and again, no flames please! Thank you~!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** **Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

Since 10,000 B.C., there were two types of creatures that lived on Terra: humans and demons.

Humans had the ability to fight and purify demons with their magic, while demons had supernatural strength and power to attack humans.

A long war went on actively and continues to this day as mere cold tension, but peace was achieved by the win of the crusaders against the demon king a few decades ago.

As one of the laws in the demon lands, if someone won against the demon ruler, the demon ruler and their people must not attack the winner and their people until the winner passes away. This was strictly seen by the demon king himself. Anyone who went against it would perish by his hands.

Because of such a rule, the crusaders knew that the peace would not last long - compared to what the human rulers believed, so now - to prepare for the future, one of those crusaders opened a school for any with high magic potential. Others scattered around the land, living out their life peacefully while passing their knowledge and skills to their children or students.

In this magical school, the schooling usually takes four years to complete and people are divided into classes by their power output from A being the highest to F being the lowest. There are 3 classes that they are required to take: history, magical theory, and combat magic. However, they are also recommended to take: healing, physical combat, and defense magic. They can only graduate after taking two written exams and one practical exam.

Anyways, two girls - who are friends - in another world transported into Terra, getting adopted by kind people, adapting to the world and its rules, and keeping up with the normal kids around them. One girl, Hotaru, is technically the same age as those in their first year of high school, but she was allowed to skip a grade, while the other girl, Nari, is in her second year of high school.

And this is where the story begins.

* * *

"Nari, are you sleeping again?" Hotaru pouted as she poked her friend on the arm. "Wake up! I want to get lunch! This food baby isn't gonna impregnate itself!"

"..." Nari kept her head down without any sign of movement.

A tall lean male with shaggy black hair approached them. His polite smile lowered her guard for a moment. "I don't think you should wake her. It wouldn't do you any good anyways to be around someone of her caliber at the level you are at, don't you think, Hotaru- _san_?"

Her eyebrow twitched at his words. She smiled brightly at him, despite the irritation leaking out of her voice quite obviously. "I don't think you get to decide who my friends are. And she's not weak."

"She isn't weak, but she's very average. And you're an elite." He commented very lightly without a break in his smile.

She could not go against his words since it was a fact. "Even so, Shindo _-san_ , is magic power everything to a person? If it is in your eyes, then you are truly missing out on a lot. She's my best friend. I can choose who I want to hang out with."

"Oi, Shindo. Why do you always have to fight with that girl?" Another male with messy and windswept brown hair who is taller than Shindo interrupted her with a mocking smirk. "Seems like a waste of energy." He fidgeted with his glasses for a second.

"Pick on someone your own size, Miyuki _-san_!" She glared at the two. In that moment, Nari groggily woke up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hotaru- _chan_ … Why is it so loud?" She stretched her arms and dragged her away from the two, not even acknowledging their existences. "Let's go eat something tasty."

"Bu-but they were-"

"Ignore them. Let them keep the stick of their ego up their butt." She shrugged and lazily opened the door to leave. Hotaru pouted in response. "Anyways, I'm really not looking forward to this whole group assignment thing and having to live with them…"

"At least, we don't have to do any chores!" Hotaru's eyes sparkled at the idea. "And single rooms!"

Nari groaned. "I hate this."

"Oh c'mon! It'll be fun!"

"What if we end up with those two." Nari pointed out before pausing. "Oh wait, that won't happen since I'm average." She finally smiled brightly.

"Why does that make you so happy…" Hotaru sighed.

* * *

Nari gathered her books into her bag and walked out of the Healing class. Today was particularly interesting since they discussed about the major arteries of both humans and demons, along with the differences in their DNA.

She stood in front of the locker room silently, hoping that the combat magic class would take it easy for today, but then again, she always had terrible luck, so it would probably be an intense session instead. Resigning to her fate, she walked in to change out of her clothes.

"At least, I'm done with history and magical theory…" She muttered under her breath. This was her last attempt in trying to comfort herself for the combat magic class. Unfortunately, most students placed high importance in this class in regards to someone's informal ranking and position in the student population. The elites were considered to be the best combat magic users in their year; for her year, it was Shindo, Miyuki, and Hotaru.

Pulling the shirt over her, she mildly wished that she was back in the healing class. While it sucked that her best friend decided to take defense magic instead, she was at least away from the other two elites, especially since they took physical combat as their optional class.

By the time she stood in line, she dreaded everything. "TODAY, FOR CLASS, WE'LL BE HOLDING PRACTICAL BATTLES. THE PERSON ON YOUR RIGHT WILL BE YOUR PARTNER FOR TODAY." It was official. She really did have the worst luck ever. She stopped herself from groaning. She took a peek at who it was and wanted to go drown herself already.

A bright red haired girl with red fingernails and pale white skin stood tall, sniffing into the air indignantly next to her. She was considered to be one of the best at combat magic users, but failed to defeat or even tie with Hotaru, so was considered to be the sub-elite instead. Her ruthless way of combat and the way she flaunts her arrogance landed on Nari's ' _MUST AVOID'_ list. Nari sighed again to herself. "Maybe I should have made a will and everything beforehand…"

Shindo and Miyuki heard her sighs. They glanced over at her and shook their heads before walking over to their assigned partners. Hotaru sent her an apologetic look that she completely did not see, due to her inward lamentation about her current situation. "Well… Time to get this over with."

"WHEN I SAY BEGIN, YOU WILL START." The combat magic teacher, Jin-Ae Park, yelled out. Everyone stood in their positions with their focus on their opponents.

"READY." Nari put her hands in front of her in defense position.

"I'm going to bite the dust off of you, girl." The sub-elite, Mariana, sneered.

"BEGIN!" Within seconds, the barrier that Nari had up exploded from Mariana's powerful fire magic bullet and she flew to the other side of the field. The teacher managed to set up a magic net before she crash landed on the ground.

"Ice and fire…are definitely not a good mix." Nari groaned from the pain as she heard the snickers and laughter of the other students. She heard Hotaru calling out her name from afar before blacking out.

* * *

Sending Nari an apologetic look, Hotaru glanced over to her right. Kevin gave her a flirtatious grin. His messy syrupy hair jostled as he waved at her upon catching her eyes. His charming honey amber eyes twinkled. "Go easy on me, will you, Hotaru- _san_ ," he said, adding a wink.

"Well, I can't promise anything." She gave him an amiable smile. Her attention was elsewhere as they took their places - _Shindo Yoh._

From where she was standing - _on purpose_ \- she could see him. The moment he looked over to her, she flinched and glanced away immediately.

"WHEN I SAY BEGIN, YOU WILL START." The teacher yelled out.

Her face felt as if it was on fire.

Slapping her cheeks, her eyes flashed up with determination; her face scrunched up. She had to focus. ' _What am I doing?'_

Kevin blinked at her.

"READY."

Taking her stance, she kept her eyes only on her opponent.

"BEGIN!"

Swiftly, she swiped her bell. Kevin defended himself by immediately conjuring up a barrier.

"Argh-" He skidded back due to force of the air that ruthlessly pushed him and his barrier back.

Just as she was about to make another swipe, she saw Nari flying across the field. "NARI- _CHAN_!"

* * *

"REMEMBER THAT THIS COMPETITION IS VERY IMPORTANT. THE TOP WINNERS WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE IN THE VILLA AND ARE EXCUSED FROM THEORETICAL AND HISTORY CLASSES FOR A SEMESTER AS A PRIZE. NOT TO MENTION, YOU ARE GIVEN FREE ACCESS TO THE TOWNS AND CITIES WITHOUT NEEDING TO TELL THE AUTHORITIES." The vice principal's voice boomed across the room.

As they named off each team, Nari stared at the sky without any hint of attention. When Hotaru shook her shoulder, she glanced at her questioningly. "Well, you didn't get your wish."

"Huh?" Nari blinked.

Hotaru laughed sheepishly at her. "The good thing is that you're stuck with me… That bad news is that we ended up with the two who have sticks of ego up their butts."

"AUGH." Nari grabbed at her hair and groaned. "How can this happen… Just how bad is my luck for it to end up like this."

Hotaru patted her shoulder. "It'll be okay. It won't be too bad."

"Yeah, cuz you like Shindo, but I hate them both. They piss me off so much." Nari snorted to herself. "And now I'm gonna have to deal with fangirls who think that I shouldn't be able to be on a team with those two. Just my fucking luck."

* * *

"Oh man, oh man!" Hotaru's voice kept on jumping decibels, as she thought about where she would place her furniture while surveying her room. She was excited. _So excited!_

She was moving in together with not only Nari, but also Shindo - _her crush_. And of course, Miyuki, who she felt was like a brotherly figure to her.

They would have important meals like breakfast and dinner together, and then maybe they would hang out and do fun things together too.

Shindo - _and there was Shindo Yoh_. Now that they were going to live together, they would spend a lot of time together, so while doing so…

" _It should be around here somewhere," Hotaru said, going through her drawers. "I can't seem to find it…" A dejected sigh left her. "I wanted to show you that comic book…"_

 _There was no response from him._

" _Is something wrong…?" The moment she made eye contact with her, he paced up to her._

" _You should be more careful…"_

 _Hotaru stood up, blinking up at him in confusion. "What do you mean-" The next moment, she gasped._

" _This, is what I mean." She was trapped by the wall. Shindo towered over her with his arms trapping her against the wall. His voice was dangerously low; and yet the goosebumps that rose from her weren't out of fear._

 _Hotaru gulped._

" _I… Um… What?"_

 _The look in his eyes was intense and passionate; something intoxicatingly dark lurked behind them. "You do know… That I am a man."_

 _Her heart felt like it was ready to burst. "What… What about it?"_

 _As he leaned in closer, she could feel his breath fanning her ear, and his cologne encompassing her senses… "It's late at night, and you invited me into your room… Do you realize what sort of situation you're in…?"_

 _Hotaru shivered and let out a staggering breath._

Falling onto the floor in the middle of her new room, Hotaru let out a muffled scream into her hands after her shameless daydream about Shindo.

* * *

"Well this is the house… Our stuff should be in our rooms already." Hotaru's eyes sparkled as though she was in bliss. Nari sighed and muttered colorful things under her breath. They both entered their respective rooms. While Hotaru proceeded to greet the two who came a little late, Nari chose to stay in her room and avoid them as much as possible.

However, when it was meal time and she did not come out of her room to eat, Miyuki gave an annoyed sigh. "I'll get her. What the hell is she doing? We can't eat until she's here." Without waiting for anyone to respond, he walked over to her room and knocked on the door. When he heard no response, he slammed the door open and found no one. In fact, the room was so bare that he didn't think that anyone lived in it. "How does she live like this…" He muttered to himself.

The front door suddenly swung open and in came Nari as she took off her jacket, hanging it on the rack. "Where were you, Nari- _chan_?" Hotaru worriedly walked up to her.

"I was checking out the area and then got lost."

"..." Hotaru stared at her before letting out a big sigh. "If you wanted to do that, then let me know, so that I don't start freaking out about how I can't find you anywhere… Why are you so directionally challenged even here?"

' _Even here'_

"I have no idea." They then walked over to the table that was full of hot dishes. Miyuki joined them as well.

He glanced at her, remembering the bare room. "Why do you have nothing in your room? Don't you have anything?"

"...No." She twitched a little. There was a lump in her throat. "Nothing of importance."

"Hm… Simple and minimalistic then?" He tapped on the table with his finger. She stiffened, feeling his hard stare.

She quickly turned her head as her eyes darkened. She could hardly breathe comfortably in their presence."If you wish to think of it that way." Nari then took a piece of bread and chewed on it absentmindedly. The growing tension between the two made it a little uncomfortable for the other two.

"This is _so_ awkward," Hotaru whispered to herself with a strangled voice.

"Anyways, now that we're a team, we should talk about our strengths and weaknesses." Shindo interrupted with his casual and light smile, cutting through the tension like butter. Hotaru let out a relieved breath and smiled at him.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" Hotaru immediately replied.

"Since I'm so average, you three can decide on what to do and then tell me what I need to do when you are done." The disinterest in Nari's voice was very obvious as she finished her portion of the food and stood up. "I'm going to sleep now." She turned around and left the three in silence.

"Well, we have a lot to repair with her, Miyuki." Shindo quietly spoke to him. He merely nodded in agreement. "This is gonna be difficult for us to win if she's like that."

"Just give her time. She doesn't trust people that easily, but once you wait for her, she'll slowly open up and be the best ally ever - no matter her level of her magic." Hotaru pleaded with them. She glanced at Nari's door, wondering why she was acting like that when she never behaved in such a manner in the previous world.

* * *

Hotaru sighed. The meal scenes she had imagined before moving in were too different from reality.

The tension was suffocating at the table - especially between Nari and Miyuki. She didn't understand… She thought that Nari would get along with the other two males _splendidly,_ and that she would have to watch out for their scheming, teasing ways.

At least Shindo was very willing and was able to dispel some of the tension - or at least, perhaps ignore and proceed onto other topics, allowing Hotaru to relax slightly.

Wondering what the reason for her distaste of them was, Hotaru recalled their previous interactions.

" _I don't think you should wake her. It wouldn't do you any good anyways to be around someone of her caliber at the level you are at, don't you think, Hotaru-san?"_

 _Her eyebrow twitched at Shindo's words. She smiled brightly at him, despite the irritation leaking out of her voice quite obviously. "I don't think you get to decide who my friends are. And she's not weak."_

" _She isn't weak, but she's very average. And you're an elite." He commented very lightly without a break in his smile._

… Okay, she had a good idea as to why. But Miyuki never engaged in those underhanded insults, so why him too? Maybe it was because he was buddy buddy with Shindo...

Haha... All Hotaru wanted was for that tension to just vanish and to let her have lots of fun times with them, _dammit_!

* * *

"Nari- _chan_ , please… For me?" Hotaru tugged at her best friend's arm. "I don't know why you're acting like that with them… Aren't they the type of people you usually get along with?"

Nari turned rigid at her energetic friend's touch. The lump in her throat came back. Discomfort lingered in her thoughts. She felt utterly suffocated. "...Not when they are too arrogant, but fine… I'll try to be myself around them…" She abruptly sighed, acting as if it was all an inconvenience.

When they came back to the house, Nari stood in front of them with a serious expression. She swallowed, wishing that she stopped feeling so nauseous around them. They waited for her to talk. "I'll get straight to the point. I don't really like you both, but I'm willing to change my dislike towards you both in order to win the competition. We can't live in the same house anyways if there's too much tension here. So I would like to extend an invitation to you both to remain cordial and to treat each other with respect until graduation."

"Sounds good." They both agreed. Nari nodded at them both and gave a supposed relaxed smile, but in actuality, her lips twitched uncomfortably in a subtle awkward manner. To the normal people, however, her smile looked naturally very warm and inviting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." Her smile somehow made them feel wary, but that soon went away when she said, "Let's also give an _explosive_ warning to the rest of the teams in the competition during the first match." All three smirked at the same time. Her lips twitched again a little. She felt the lump in her throat disappear a bit, but her stomach twisted uncomfortably instead. Her fingernails dug into her skin to help her maintain her mask of calm comfort.

"Now that sounds like fun." Miyuki's eyes glinted of mischief.

Hotaru gave a dry laugh; these were the plotting smirks of one INTJ and two ENTJ's...

* * *

"Why is it you?!" Mariana, the bane of Nari's existence, swung her staff towards her. Nari jumped back, feeling a little wary of the flame user. Before she could continue, the combat magic teacher, Jin-Ae Park, yelled out for everyone to start their practical battles again. Nari wanted to puke - the lump feeling more obvious in her throat. Her expression remained relatively calm, despite how she felt. Her heart shuddered.

"You don't deserve to be on the same team as the elites. Someone like you-" Mariana dashed forward - very intent on destroying the person before her. Recognizing the anger and potential instability of Mariana's current mental state, Nari dodged to the side and threw dirt at her face. She screeched while Nari took this chance to put some distance between them.

"Sorry, but I don't really want to die yet." A wry smile lingered in her expression. The expletives the flame user screamed out were impressive. Nari focused on building her limited power output into one single attack. _She just wanted to be left alone._ While it was not enough to obliterate her opponent, it was enough to at least immobilize her to a good extent. The moment she released it, an explosion occurred between them. She managed to put up a barrier to stop herself from flying backwards.

When the smoke cleared up, everyone stopped their battle to watch them fight. It was clear who was superior. Mariana blocked the attack singlehandedly without breaking a sweat, but Nari breathed hard as though it took all of her power to release such a basic attack. "Yoh- _sama_ and Kazuya- _sama_ do not deserve to be burdened by a weakling like you. If that's your strongest attack, I can already see how your team will fall. There is only so much that Yoh- _sama_ and Kazuya- _sama_ can do to support you, even with the help of Hotaru _-san_."

Nari knew then that Mariana snapped out of her rampage. With the snap of Mariana's fingers, Nari felt a gust of flames heading her way. She instinctively understood that she will probably get burned badly by her attack if no one does anything to protect her, considering how low her stamina was. From behind Nari, she could hear Hotaru screaming and running in her direction, but she could tell that her best friend would never make it. The lump in her throat disappeared - as if she was actually relieved about her impending death; she would no longer have to deal with the males in her team anymore. Her eyebrows relaxed and the tension in her posture rested. Using the last of her power, she then put up a barrier to protect her face, neck, arms, and legs before closing her eyes to prepare for the attack.

"Why?!" Mariana cried out incredulously. Nari felt droplets of water and the presence of someone in front of her. When she opened her eyes, she stared at Miyuki - shocked and startled. The water barrier he put up with his hand was flawless and firm. There was no way that her fire magic bullet could pierce it.

"I don't appreciate you trying to teach my student." He threw the water ball into the air before catching it playfully.

"Stu...dent…?" Nari repeated in disbelief. The lump in her throat came back in full force. She felt dizzy. Her fingers curled around the grass under her roughly. Cold sweat formed on her skin and her throat turned dry. She clenched her teeth, trying hard to focus again.

He grinned at her, which made her posture turn rigid. Her eyebrows furrowed at him. "Since we still have a month left before the competition, I'll be training your physical combat and combat magic skills. We don't want you to embarrass us after all."

Taking deep breaths through her nose, she forced herself to bite her bottom lip to get a hold of herself. "...But why you?" She shakily stood back up.

"You use a dagger and I use a katana. Makes perfect sense. I also take physical combat classes that have to do with martial arts and with handling any blade weapons." He shrugged. "You could do with some help, don't you think? Healing can only take you so far in pure combat." He continued without waiting for her reply. "Build your stamina, make you proficient enough to fight without magic, and hone your combat magic skills. I can help you with your ice magic to a good extent too since mine is water."

"..." Nari stared at him. She did not want to talk to him. She did not want to look at him. She did not want to interact with him. She wanted to get out of his presence. She hated how he kept talking to her. She hated how he never - _how he never ever_ \- looked at her as if she was hopeless - _as if she was never the useless person that people believed her to be_. And that was why she hated him. He could see through her facade - _the walls that she put up._ And she was terrified that he would see _her_. Her fingernails dug into her skin harder, making it a bit red. But she knew that he would not stop until she agreed to train with him. Feeling exhausted about everything, she decided to stop her train of thoughts and proceeded to turn off her emotions for this single moment.

Miyuki sighed when he noticed how unresponsive she was towards his suggestion. "I don't think you should reject my offer when you're being given a chance to improve yourself. There's nothing wrong with building up your skills and becoming a better fighter-"

She blinked. "Okay." Her parched throat made it hard for her to speak. Her wrist trembled, but her hand wrapped around it tightly, forcing it to still.

"And-" He locked eyes with her for a brief moment. She glanced down at the floor, avoiding his gaze. "Oh? I didn't expect you to agree so easily. We only just started to compromise."

"I'm not that stupid, Miyuki." She then dusted off her shirt, trying to remain calm. "I need all the help that I can get for this stupid competition. And I don't like letting the team I'm on lose because of me, contrary to belief."

"But Kazuya- _sama_ -" Mariana cried out - only to shut up once she was the recipient of his glare.

He then faced Nari with a grin. "Now that we agreed, let's shake on it." He held out his hand. The lump in her throat felt bigger than before. Her wrist continued to tremble and her eyebrows remained rigid. She finally tentatively grabbed his hand with hers before letting go quickly. She grabbed her wrist again and faced the other direction. "With the class as witness, you aren't allowed to escape from any of the training sessions in the future." Somehow, his smile looked a little wicked when she glanced at him. She then wondered to herself briefly if this really was a good idea.

* * *

 **Hope I'll see reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**

 **By the way, if you like Izuku and Shouto from BNHA, I highly recommend reading my co-writer's fanfic: s / 13005788 / 1 / Neither**


	2. Chapter 2

**Remember, if you don't like the story, don't read and don't comment. Keep your hate to yourself. :) I do love writer feedback, such as how to improve my writing, or comments about the characters or even the situations happening in the story though. I also love answering any questions you might have, even if it's minor or speculative. :D**

 **And if you happen to see one of the placeholder names, please let me know, so that I can fix it.**

 **Oh and again, no flames please! Thank you~!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** **Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"Training wasn't too bad today." Shindo stretched his arms. "How was it for you, kiddo?" Hotaru's eye twitched in annoyance.

She glared at the tall male. "I AM NOT A KIDDO. I'M A FEMALE, YOU-"

"Okay, okay. So how was it for you though?" He shrugged as she pouted.

"It was fine. Nothing different or hard-" Before Hotaru could explain, the door slammed open.

"You're so…. _INFURIATING_!" A disgruntled Nari growled as she followed after Miyuki. She only saw red once her temper finally got the best of her. All signs of her usual silence seemed like a mere illusion.

"I know." He merely smiled and grabbed an apple to eat. Biting into it, he nodded his head absentmindedly. Nari glared at him fiercely.

Absolute annoyance and bitterness consumed her. She did not understand why he was acting like this when he did not in the past. "You did NOT have to do such a thing to me and instead you-" Miyuki stuffed his bitten apple into her mouth. His sudden action caught her off-guard. She did not know how to react, so she continued to stare at him incredulously. While she was slowly getting used to his presence, she still could not stop herself from panicking around him. Annoyed of her own reaction, she soon reached the limit of her self-control and patience, lashing out in a furious manner to get him to stop; her desperation to get a hold of the situation overwhelmed her.

"You should eat, so that we can train again." The irritating smile on his face had yet to disappear. She bit into the apple angrily, not knowing on what to do about her new _teacher_.

"You piss me off daily." Nari finally muttered under her breath, squeezing the apple in her hand tightly. Her wrist had begun to tremble when she felt the anger inside of her fade away. By tightening her hold on the apple, she hoped to hide her reaction towards him by acting like she was still angry at him.

"I know." He managed to take the apple from her before she could eat some more of it. He took a huge bite off of it and then gave it back to her.

Her eyebrow twitched. It was a chance for her, so she exploded again. To Hotaru and Shindo, however, it was apparent that Niina's lack of sleep and discomfort towards Miyuki were the main causes of the ice user's outburst. "You just _ATE_ _HALF_ of that apple _..._ What the hell am I supposed to eat...?!" Nari gritted her teeth. It was very clear to everyone that she desperately needed to relax and sleep after this.

"The rest of that small piece." Miyuki grinned at her. Her heart squeezed uncomfortably. She hated how he smiled at her like that. She hated how she was letting him get to her. She hated how weak she felt against him and his whims. She hated how utterly relaxed he looked around her. She hated _him_. She feared _him._ She could not stand his existence any longer.

So she glared at him instead. "...I'm going to kill you one day." She truly could not understand why she could not calm down around him. It was as if he existed and lived to annoy her. She soon took a deep breath, attempting to get a hold of herself. She would not lose her cool again. She also cursed her inability to control herself when she was utterly exhausted and hungry.

"That's the millionth time you told me that." He took another apple and bit a huge chunk off of that one. Amusement pooled in his eyes. She twitched, recognizing that he found her anger and frustration as entertaining.

The lump in her throat, the hollow pounding of her heart, the sudden chilly temperature in her skin, the furrowing of her eyebrows, and the stiffening of her posture overwhelmed her immensely, but she quickly made the resolve to execute her next set of actions. _She would not let him take control of the situation anymore._ So she smiled at him brightly and then proceeded to grab his arm with a small pout that made him twitch. "Actually… I'm so happy that _Kazuya-sama_ gives me _personal_ lessons and even eats _anything_ that _I_ ate as well…" The nauseating voice she used made him shudder. Shindo choked on his water and spat it out.

Hotaru attempted to stifle down her laughter.

"Don't sound like one of my fangirls." Miyuki merely warned and then chewed on his apple quietly for the rest of the time. Nari finally felt like she had taken control of the situation. Relief lingered in her eyes before covering it up with a smirk on her face. She then sat down on the sofa with the half eaten apple, relaxing her posture a little bit.

"Yeah, seriously… Are you trying to make us sick?" Shindo rubbed the temple of his head.

Hotaru giggled before turning towards Shindo again. "Anyways, as I was saying, personal training was boring. I reviewed how to shoot big magic bullets, but it's so easy. What did you _old_ people have to do? "

He glanced at her, his smile seeming more of a smirk. "If you meant our class trainings, you already know that it wasn't much. Just some more expansion into the magical chants... Maybe you'd remember if you put on another year in age."

She twitched. "You're talking about that as if it's as simple as putting on a kilo…"

"Are you done eating the apple, Nari?" Miyuki walked over to her as he threw away the core. Nari was still chewing on the apple. Before she could react, he grabbed it from her and ate the rest in one bite, throwing the core into the trash bin. "There, now you're done. Let's go."

"But I-" She stared at him incredulously. She was once again caught off guard by him. _He had taken control of the situation once again with that one single move._ She bit her bottom lip hard to restrain her mind and herself as he dragged her out of the house to train some more.

* * *

"Uh-" Hotaru took a step towards Shindo, who had his hand on the door knob of his room.

He spared her a curious and inviting glance.

' _What are your thoughts on marriage?'_

She didn't mind marriage - rather thought it was an exciting event…

' _Do you want kids?'_

Those, she wanted NONE.

' _DO YOU LOVE ME AND WANT TO MARRY ME AND WANT TO SPEND ALL OF YOUR LIFE WITH ME-'_

"Uh, do you, like to use pretty bookmarks? Like, if you don't read, then maybe while studying or something..." She smiled up at him with her hands behind her back.

Obviously, she couldn't ask all that when they weren't even in a relationship… How embarrassingly far ahead had she thought - or rather daydreamed?!

He peered at her curiously; Hotaru stiffened in response. Her skin pulsed with a deep flush; it felt as if he could see right through her. "Well, I don't really bother with bookmarks, but I can always make exceptions," he said nonchalantly, with a knowing smirk.

Hotaru continued violently twiddling with her fingers behind her back, giving a slightly strained laugh. "I see…" Oh man, the need to scream, run, and hide almost overpowered her.

"Why do you ask? Is there something I should be expecting?" Even though he asked that, the mischievous glint in his eyes told her exactly how far he had guessed.

"Well," she began, narrowing her eyes and giving an indignant pout. "I don't know... Maybe, maybe not. It was just a random question, you know. Stop assuming random things from random questions!"

' _CRAP, I SOUND SO GODDAMN OBVIOUS AND NERVOUS. UGH, I NEED NARI-CHAN TO DRILL A HOLE IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW.'_

"Hm~ Is that so," he said in a merry tone. "Anyways, I'll see you in the morning then. Good night-"

"WAIT!" Hearing the volume of her voice, Hotaru cleared her throat, adopting a quieter tone. "Uh, um, uh…"

' _Hmm, since it'll be a fox, the colour scheme of reds, oranges and browns seem natural… I don't think I need to ask; besides it'll sound like I'm making him something…!'_

"What is it?"

She jumped. "It's nothing! Good night!" With that, she hurriedly turned away, running down the hallway and slamming the door to her room once she got in.

"…" Shindo blinked. ' _Nothing, she says.._.'

* * *

 _Pitter patter. Pitter patter._

The rain drizzled over the fields where Nari and Miyuki held their training sessions. The two stood underneath a nearby gazebo. She fidgeted in her seat, wishing that the rain would stop. She could not stand being in the same vicinity as him by herself. She counted the seconds, the breaths, and the sound of the water droplets hitting the ground. Anything to keep her mind off of him… Anything to distract her - to stop herself from being hyper-aware of his presence...

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Miyuki cut through the growing tension. She flinched. As she thought, he could see through her. She hated that. She really hated him for that.

"..." She could not answer him. She did not want to answer him. But she knew that he would not stop unless he got some kind of answer from her.

He glanced at her before looking at the rain. His voice sounded unnaturally kind and soft. "How can I make you more comfortable around me?" She noticed that he relaxed his posture and expression, facing the other direction, as if to give her privacy and some sense of security. It was his clumsy attempt in trying to get her to innately realize that he was not the enemy.

Seeing how much he was trying to make her comfortable, she could not fault him for anything. Her posture loosened and the lump in her throat disappeared a bit more. "...I don't know." She murmured quietly. "I just need to get used to your presence… It takes me a while though, so I apologize if it's making you uncomfortable as well."

He tapped on the table in a slow manner. The tone in his voice sounded genuinely curious - almost as if it was his afterthought."Is that why you tend to overreact about my reactions or completely ignore me whenever other people are around?"

Nari fidgeted with her hands, choosing her words carefully. The lump came back, but it was generally smaller than before. "...I think I do that subconsciously to make people believe that I am not actually uncomfortable around you." Somehow, shame flickered in her eyes when she recognized her own weaknesses out loud to another person. "I wish I could stop myself from acting like that in the beginning..."

"You don't do that to everyone." Miyuki pointed out. He then stood in front of her. His posture still remained relaxed and non-aggressive. "You only do that to people who make you nervous or who you feel are potentially dangerous. Which one am I?"

She stiffened at his words. "That's quite an observation." She clenched her teeth; thoughts about why he observed her so carefully ever since they became teammates lingered in her mind. "Which one do you hope to be?"

He trapped her in her seat with his firm arms as he leaned towards her. Shock abruptly took over her; she could not move at all. He had taken control of the situation without her realizing; she had lost again. She nervously swallowed, examining his face that was close to hers out of panic. A sharp jawline, soft wisps of his brown hair, the reflection of his glasses, his straightforward gaze, the amber brown tints in his eyes, the healthy glow of his lightly tanned skin… She did not know where to look. She could feel the heat radiating from his lean body. Their eyes finally locked. "The first would be ideal and the second would satisfy my ego." A smirk hung from his lips.

Breathing rhythmically, she managed to calm herself down. She had to force herself to get used to his presence; she would not let him get to her. She would not allow him. "You're so…" Shaking her head in disbelief, she sighed deeply and looked at him thoughtfully. "You're like the rain."

He chuckled under his breath, sitting down in his own seat once more. "Please don't tell me that it's because my magic has to do with controlling water." She only smiled; her lips twitched.

"Definitely not." She stood up from her seat and reached out to touch the gentle rain. "I sometimes dread the rain, but sometimes…" It was as if she forgot the main reason as to why she was talking about the rain. "No… Most of the time, I love the rain and crave more of it. From the soft sound of it falling to the way it clears away the murkiness of the day, you can never tell what the rain is going to be like." She rubbed her fingers together, enjoying the feel of the water on her hands. Realizing that she had gone off topic, she went straight to the point. "Anyways, all that I'm saying is that I can never tell what you're going to be like sometimes. It irks me."

"But at least, it won't bore you." He commented. "I'll remain a mystery in your eyes that you want to solve, but aren't sure if you should."

"Yes… When you put it that way, you're not the rain. You're just Pandora's box." She snorted and then locked eyes with him again; for once, the lump in her throat disappeared and her heart no longer pounded against her chest like a confused animal. A sense of understanding finally remained between the two of them.

"But you know… It almost sounds like a confession. Loving the rain most of the time and craving more of it. Does that mean you love me most of the time and crave for more of my presence?" He teased, watching as her eye twitched in annoyance. Her posture stiffened again.

She then gave him a bright fake smile. "One of these days, I'm going to pummel you."

He replied with a huge grin. "I look forward to those sad attempts in the near future."

* * *

"Hey, Hotaru." Shindo called out to the wind user. Hotaru glanced up at him with wide eyes.

" _H-Hotaru…_?" She squeaked as if in disbelief that he just blatantly used her first name.

He scratched the back of his head, not thinking of it as such a big deal. "Well we're teammates now, aren't we? You can call me Yoh- _kun_ if you want."

She kept her feet together, fidgeting with her hands. " _Okay._ " It amused him the way she seemed so subdued right now - very unlike the her that defended her best friend fiercely some time ago.

"Anyways, I was thinking that we should train together and…" He paused before continuing, "...work on our foundation and basic magic since we don't have any magic that's similar to one another nor are our fighting styles the same."

"We can't be outdone by the other two, right?" Her smile began to widen.

"If that's what you want to believe." He shrugged. "We need to work on our teamwork together anyways, considering that theirs will probably be solidified by the time it's the first battle. We don't want our stats to remain unbalanced by then."

Somehow, she felt a little bit disappointed that _that_ was the only reason why he wanted to train with her. Nevertheless, she agreed with a bright expression. "Then let's start!"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Why did I agree to train with him again, Hotaru- _chan_?" Nari rested her head against the dining table. She did not have enough energy to even eat the food in front of her.

"He's the only one on the team who uses a blade as a weapon and has the closest type of magic as you." Hotaru popped a grape in her mouth.

"His is water. Mine is ice. He uses a katana and I use a dagger. But I don't even use my dagger for melee purposes." Nari groaned to herself. "I use it to get the blood I need. After all, I can only materialize ice from blood." She pounded her head against the table lightly.

"At least, you have a sparring partner and mentor." Hotaru sighed. "Mine is simple wind magic using a bell. CAN YOU FEEL MY FRUSTRATION?! There is no way I can find someone with similar weaponry and magic." She huffed.

"I suppose that is true. Not to mention, Shindo uses his hands to create pressure waves to break the equilibrium point of anything he touches." Nari took a bite out of her bread. "So that would make it hard for you both to train your specialized magic… But you guys train together for the foundation and basic magic, right?"

"Yeah." Hotaru strangely blushed over this.

"Oh…?" She smirked with an amused glint in her eye. "Why are you acting all shy about it? Did something happen between you two that doesn't have to do with training?"

Hotaru shook her head furiously. "Of course not! Nothing happened!" At those words, her good mood somehow dampened as if terribly sad that nothing did happen between them.

"Sorry. I guess it would have been nice if something did happen to you two… I mean it's been a while since you started to like him, right?" Nari patted her head.

"It's-it's…" Hotaru also put her head against the table and sighed. "I feel like I'm too… I don't know. I want to be with him so much that it's starting to hurt."

Her eyes narrowed. "As in a physical pain? Because that might not be a good thing."

This made Hotaru burst out into laughter. "No no… I don't mean physical pain. Well, I guess it can be a little." She fidgeted with her fingers shyly. "I just love being with him."

At this, Nari smiled. "Why are you being so adorable? If I didn't approve of Shindo, I would be telling you all the reasons why you shouldn't be with him, but since I sadly cannot do that, I feel like a mother watching their child move out of the house for the first time."

"I don't know how I feel about that." Hotaru raised her eyebrow at her.

Nari shrugged. "I don't know how I feel about that either. You'll probably feel the same way when I start to like someone too though."

"With cameras and all." Hotaru playfully grinned.

"Oh god… Of course, with cameras and all." Nari smacked her face with her hand and sighed. "You're going to become the paparazzi. Got it." She gave a light laughter.

* * *

"So the other team is highly defensive. Our focus is to break their barriers in one go and then give them an explosive attack immediately after to stop them from erecting another barrier." Shindo pointed out as he showed a video of their first opponents.

"Who should we focus on?" Nari asked. "We can't spread out our attacks or else we won't be able to break their barrier in the first place. This video is also a year old, so we can't be sure that the same person who was the weakest in the team when it comes to making barriers will still be the weakest now."

"To break down their confidence, we should focus on breaking the strongest person on their team." Miyuki pointed at the tallest female member of the team.

"But will we be able to break Sefora's barrier? I can't even pierce through hers during class." Hotaru's eyebrows furrowed.

"It's not a matter on whether we can do it or not, Hotaru." Shindo commanded her attention with his words. "We just need to do it. We will do it."

"Since you're telling us to do it, then you must have a plan in mind." Nari leaned against her chair comfortably.

"Of course I do. Sefora has a habit that we can take advantage of." Shindo smiled widely. "If we attack one of her other members with physical combat, pressuring them, and avoid any physical contact with her and the other members, then she'll become frustrated."

"So we'll forcing her and the other members to defend the one person that we'll be pressuring." Miyuki laughed. "But how will that help us defeat her? Unless…"

"During the time when they are distracted, Miyuki, you'll be using your water to break through the barrier from the inside while everyone else suddenly attacks Sefora's barrier." Shindo's hand slammed against the table as if emphasizing the end of the battle.

"So this battle will be determined by Miyuki's success on whether he can get his water to be close to Sefora while she's distracted during that single moment when we pretend to attack one of the weakest members of the team. Once she erects a barrier, his water should be covering the entire inner side of the barrier, so that we can break down the barrier from both sides. If she notices, then it's game over. If she doesn't notice, then we can win this." Nari confirmed.

"So first things first… We attack the weakest member. Miyuki will move his water to be close to Sefora. Once everyone erects a barrier, we will focus our attacks on Sefora. When that happens, Miyuki will attack the barrier from the inside." Shindo made sure that everyone was following along before continuing. "Then when the barrier breaks, I will use pressure waves to make them all fall to the ground. That's when Hotaru will manipulate the air to propel Nari towards all members, so that she can freeze their hands and arms to the ground within seconds once she cuts them with her dagger. Afterwards, Hotaru can knock them all out simultaneously with her air magic bullets."

"Okay." Hotaru stood up from her chair and stretched. "Then should we start practicing today?"

Everyone else stood up as well - prepared to train hard for the competition once more. "Isn't that obvious? Let's get going." Miyuki smirked, heading for the door first with everyone else following after him.

* * *

"Today's class is about the demon king. Who knows who the demon king is?" The history teacher, Valerie Pruitt, stood in the middle of the class. Each group sat in a small circle around the circular desk. This style of sitting is done for every lecture and discussion-type classes. She clapped her hands and the lights turned off. Immediately, a holographic image appeared in the middle of each table. A black figure that has no features flickered.

Mariana raised her hand. "Yes, Mariana."

"He is the strongest demon among his species and has been acknowledged to be very honorable and fair as their ruler. It is rumored that he is immortal and is the first ruler over the demons as well. Potentially could be the last ruler if he really is immortal unless someone kills him." She smiled at her own answer.

"Good, Mariana." The teacher snapped her fingers and a holographic image of thousands of mini demons marching on the table appeared with the black figure of the demon king flickering above them as almighty. "As she just said, the demon king rules over the demons and anyone who breaks their law will perish by his hands. Do you know why this is important?"

Hotaru raised her hand enthusiastically. "Yes, Hotaru."

"Because the crusaders defeated the demon king, we can peacefully live without fear of the demons potentially attacking us. If there were any demons who were to attack us humans, then we have the right to eradicate them as stated in the demon laws." Images of the crusader's silhouettes attacking the demon king and winning appeared. Immediately after, the demons disappeared from the table and mini humans who were celebrating flickered.

She put her hands together and nodded. "Exactly. The demon king is a strict ruler, but there is a certain detail that we must remember when it comes to this law. Does anyone know what that is?"

Nari raised her hand tentatively. Pruitt looked at her in surprise. It was very rare to see one of the quiet students to be willing to answer a question. Nevertheless, it made her pleased. "Yes, Nari."

"If the winners all died… In this case, the crusaders… The demons will be allowed to attack the humans and kill the rulers if they wish to do so." Before the teacher was able to respond, Nari continued. "However, the demon king's subordinates might try to assassinate the winners before the end of peacetime, despite potentially facing execution by their ruler if they get caught."

"You are correct. Not all of his subordinates enjoy the fact that the demon king lost and are being forced to restrain their natural bloodlust. Because of this, there definitely can be a chance of them being assassinated by higher level demons." She snapped her fingers and famous demon generals flickered as holograms in the middle of the table. "These are some of the famous demon generals in our history with them."

"But aren't the crusaders still young? We might not even be alive by the time the crusaders are all dead and the demons come to attack us." Shindo pointed out. "So is there a point to all this?"

"Because us humans are foolish, we have a habit of repeating past mistakes. That is why we need to learn this. But remember this… One mistake will never kill you, but the same mistake over and over again will." Pruitt warned the students. "Now, here's a fun question for everyone." Everyone paid closer attention to the teacher. "What does the demon king look like? Does anyone know?"

"..." No one raised their hands.

"That is to be expected. There are many speculations as to how he might look like, but no one has ever seen him before, except for the crusaders."

"THEN THE HEADMISTRESS HAS SEEN HIM BEFORE?!" A student cried out.

"Yes. Since our headmistress was one of the crusaders, she has seen the demon king before, but the crusaders made a pact with one another to never tell anyone what the demon king looks like."

"Why? That's so unfair…" Mariana grumbled. "What if he was super handsome… Keeping that to themselves."

The history teacher almost laughed out loud but managed to get a hold of herself. "Well, the only thing that I got from your headmistress is that the demon king is very handsome and ethereally beautiful, but other than that, she never told me anything else." She walked around the classroom. "Now I'm not really sure as to why they made such a pact, but who knows… Maybe in the future, we will know how the demon king looks like from an unexpected source." She snapped her fingers and the holograms all disappeared. The light came back on in the classroom.

"That was it for today's history class." She walked over to her desk and gathered her files. "Your magical theory teacher will be coming in a few minutes, so enjoy your quick break."

* * *

"Guys guys," Hotaru said, brandishing a pastel coloured book. "You know what we should do on a cool weekend like this?!"

A cool weekend, or more accurately - _a lazy weekend_.

"Nothing. You do nothing on a weekend like this." Miyuki flipped through the combatants stats book with vague disinterest.

"..." Hotaru stared at him, her eyebrow twitching.

Nari sighed, placing down her glass of water. "What do we do?"

Immediately, Hotaru's demeanour flourished back into a hyperactive puppy's. "Well, WE BAKE!"

"Do you want to explode the kitchen?" Shindo asked with his face lazily on his fist.

"Hey, I'm bad at food stuff, but I don't set things on fire." She glared and pouted at him. "Besides, it's not like I'll be doing it alone! I want to do with YOU guys! Come on! Let's make some chocolate chip cookies!"

"We don't have the ingredients for that though," Nari said thoughtfully.

A smug smile appeared on Hotaru's face. "Y'all certainly don't know me well! I've prepared well for this situation!" Rushing to the kitchen, she dug out various newly bought packets. "I made sure to get everything listed in Kevin's baking book!"

The next few minutes were spent with her trying to infect them with her enthusiasm.

They all resisted well - _lazily_ \- until she brought out the puppy eyes.

… _And somehow_ …

"..." The twitching smile on Shindo's face felt dangerous. "...Did you look at these aprons before buying them?"

He sported a frilly baby blue apron, which had unicorns on it - unicorns engaging in…rather _promiscuous_ activities.

Miyuki attempted to - more like failed to - stifle his laughter.

"What? Of course I did! I made sure to get the cutest ones!"

Nari - who was saved by the adorable baby panda faces with different expressions on her pink and yellow apron - sent Shindo a jokingly pitying expression.

"Maybe you should look closely then," Shindo said, his smile twitching ever the same.

The expression on Hotaru's face didn't change, as she shuffled through the ingredients. "At least you don't have the ape butts and bananas that Miyuki's has." At that, Miyuki twitched.

Shindo's eye twitched. "...You bought these knowing that."

Her smile remained unwavered. "Hey, you didn't notice it until you looked closely enough."

* * *

Nari stood against the porch railings silently and stared at the night sky. The wind blew against her. Relishing in the nature around her, she crossed her arms to stop herself from feeling cold. When she suddenly felt a blanket covering her, she pulled it around herself, glancing at the person who approached her.

"It's been a month already…" Miyuki stood against the porch with her. "Tomorrow is the start of the competition."

"We'll win." Nari whispered. While she initially disliked Miyuki with a passion so big, since he was too spartan with her during training and loved to tease her whenever he could, she found that she could still relate to him better than the other team members, especially when she realized that he had the same awkward struggle of empathizing with people - just like her. That calmed her down and got rid of a lot of her irritation towards him; in fact, it now actually made her more comfortable around him over anyone else. While she still had her moments when she panicked around him, she was getting better at controlling her reactions.

"That's a lot of confidence. There are plenty of strong upperclassmen." Miyuki pointed out with a grin, but his grin faded away when they locked eyes with each other. The seriousness in her gaze captured his attention.

"It's not just confidence." She murmured.

He sobered up from his amusement. "What do you mean?"

A simple smile lingered on her face. "I have faith." When the wind blew against them both, he shivered. She took the blanket and wrapped it around him. "Faith that even if I were to make a mistake, everyone on the team would make up for it and become even stronger in order to win."

"Does that include you?" He never made a single movement as he waited for her reply. She took a step back from him. She gave a pained smile for a brief moment before letting it fade away.

Taking a deep breath, she answered him quietly. "Perhaps… We shall see." He then watched her walk into the house in silence. To him, it was the first time that she showed such a vulnerability - albeit subtly - in front of him. It made him want to know more about her - the girl who feared him - and to leave a mark in her life - no matter how small it might end up being.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story: ArashiYuki13, haikyuulover1234, and LostSoul.**

 **ArashiYuki13: Thanks for the review~! Haha Didn't expect you to actually review our story to be honest. I guess it adds to the review count though. XD AND NO, THAT SHIP WILL GO DOWN SO FAST AND WILL NEVER BE CANON! T^T Haha**

 **Haikyuulover1234: Thank you very much for the review~~! I was really happy to see your review! Now that you mention it, the whole magical school and demons thing does remind me of something, but I can't remember what it is either. XD Glad that you enjoy the world building part, since it'll be the focus in the first few chapters. I also think Hotaru is adorable. XD As for the three required classes, college would be like that – sorta… Haha I wouldn't call the two guys and the two girls as enemies… It's more of Shindo disrespecting Nari and Nari hating him for that, so those two are more likely to be enemies than if we included their best friends. :D**

 **LostSoul: Thank you so much for the review~~! I'm glad to hear that you liked reading about the interactions! :D I also really like Nari, so it's great to know that you can relate to her the most and that you like her character. I actually never thought of the possibility of Shindo falling for Nari first before Hotaru. :O That's something to think about…**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**

 **By the way, if you like Izuku and Shouto, I highly recommend reading my co-writer's fanfic: s / 13005788 / 1 / Neither**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the slow updates, even though it's already completely written. I will try to start updating this more often this year since I am not as busy - probably.**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"Do you think we're gonna rock it tomorrow?" Hotaru glanced at Shindou with an abnormally bright grin; her emotional state had been jumping from nervous to thrilled, but she was attempting to appear very stable.

He shrugged, almost enjoying the nervousness she tried so hard to hide. "We already made all the plans. Now it only depends on each of our performances tomorrow."

"Right…" She went quiet, preferring to fiddle with her hands.

He observed her behavior for a while longer and then said. "The more you get nervous, the more the chances of it falling apart there are~"

Stiffening, she sent him a glare. "Yeah! As if! As long as my bowel movements stay within my grasps, we can win that thing tomorrow and then I can have my fun - beating you half to death! That's my fancy way of saying only a turd can defeat me!"

"…It doesn't take a lot to mess around with that, though. I think you should look for a better, less _stinky_ weakness."

"SHUT UP."

* * *

" _It's rare...to find such a person." A deep mellow voice rang in her ears. "Poor child."_

" _KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL!" Smoke slowly began to suffocate her as she coughed and ran across the field. Her heart pumped hard and her legs felt the strain of overexertion._

 _THEY ARE COMING!_

 _She could hear the pounding in her ears, but she ignored all of the warning coming from her body. She would not let them down. She desperately used all of her strength to reach the town._

 _I have to protect them._

 _Those were her only thoughts when a high pitched scream pierced the air mercilessly._

 _NO-_

Nari shot up from her bed. Sweat drenched her pajamas as they stuck to her like glue. She stared at her hands and noticed how she couldn't stop herself from shaking. Breathing heavily, she soon became as still as unmoving water.

Even though her body demanded more sleep, she found that her mind was too alert and too active to let her fall asleep for the rest of the long night. "How inconvenient." She murmured to herself as she stared at the wall absentmindedly.

"At least, no one could hear me scream…" Relief poured into her eyes when she noted the secured soundproofing done on the walls in her room. She couldn't help but chuckle bitterly to herself.

* * *

"WELCOME TO THE COMPETITION OF THE YEAR WHERE STUDENTS FIGHT FOR FAME AND PRESTIGE! JUST WHO WILL BE THE WINNER THIS TIME TO TAKE HOME THE PRIDE OF THE SCHOOL'S STRENGTH?!" The announcer energetically greeted the audience. His enthusiasm was contagious as everyone in the stands screamed out their excitement. "FOR THE FIRST FIGHT, TEAM 1 AND TEAM 2 WILL BE STARTING US OFF!"

Nari sat quietly in her seat with Miyuki. Shindo and Hotaru went off to scout the other teams. "So who do you think will win, Miyuki?"

"Team 2." He pulled her closer to him when someone was trying to go past them to get to their seat. For some reason, she did not stiffen under his touch. He decided to take a gamble and did not let go of her as he pointed at each member, explaining his reasons as to why he thought so. Feeling a bit more confident about her becoming comfortable around him, he began to talk a lot more in a vigorous manner, showing his excitement and contentment towards the current situation between them. When he finally glanced at her, the bags under her eyes were obvious. "Did you not sleep?"

"I slept enough." Her voice sounded tired, despite her attempts at assuring him that she was okay. She just seemed to not care about anything. It was to the point that even if the world was being destroyed by someone, she could care less about it.

His eyebrows furrowed. "You haven't. Take a nap right now. I'll lend you my shoulder." He patted his own shoulder.

"But-"

"No but's. Listen to your mentor." When she scrunched up her face in displeasure, he laughed lightly. "Don't worry. I'll wake you during the match before ours." He pulled her head onto his shoulder and she sighed.

She glanced at him incredulously. "You're so… unreasonable."

His voice turned deeper but breathy. It almost lulled her to sleep. "No I'm not. You're just being unreasonable." His eyes softened.

"You're right… I am..." She muttered before her eyes closed from the heaviness that she felt in her eyelids.

* * *

Hotaru looked around with utmost seriousness. "…How does one scout. Does one enter the boy scouts? Very sexist. It should be the children's scouts." She spoke almost gruffly, as if trying to act out an old man's voice.

Shindou sent her a strange look; sometimes she went on tangents about things that were absolutely beyond him. "Well, it most certainly does not require anyone entering any such…scouts... Unless you're talking about the reconnaissance scouts..."

Sending him an irritated look, she looked around once again. "I wasn't talking about those, but whatever."

He raised an eyebrow and then let his expression fall back into his ' _politely_ ' amused smile. "Well… What do you think scouting other teams is like?"

"…" Scanning the teams around them, at last, Hotaru paused and discreetly gestured towards Hina's team.

He leaned in closer and she whispered. "The leader of that one drank sour milk, and his intestines are about to blast - in, like, about 15 minutes. Their team will probably win - if they know how to utilize this very _stinky_ tragedy."

He stared at her.

She rubbed her beardless chin in thought. "Huh. I guess disastrous bowel movements aren't such a weakness after all... As long as you know how to turn it in your favour..."

"…"

* * *

"OUR NEXT FIGHT!" The announcer cried out. "TEAM 8 ON ONE SIDE WITH MIYUKI- _SENSHU_ , SHINDO- _SENSHU_ , HOTARU _-SENSHU_ , AND NARI- _SENSHU_!"

They stood solemnly, analyzing their upperclassmen opponents to make sure that their strategy would be effective. Shindo motioned to them, whispering to them. "The weakest is the bald guy. What was his name again?"

"Agrava- _san_." Hotaru supplied.

"Right. Agrava. So we'll aim for him first." Shindo never moved his gaze away from the other team.

"Let's see how much stronger they are, compared to last year." Miyuki snickered before murmuring to Nari. "Gotta give everyone an explosive warning, right?"

That made Nari snigger a bit as she tried to cover her mouth with her hand; she finally hid behind Miyuki because she could not stop herself from laughing. "You terrible… It's not even going to be explosive. It's just going to be a mess."

"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE TEAM 7 WITH AGRAVA- _SENSHU_ , SEFORA- _SENSHU_ , EDEN- _SENSHU_ , AND TOM- _SENSHU_!" From left to right, exactly as the announcer said, a bald male (Agrava), the tallest female (Sefora), a short curly haired male (Eden), and a messy haired male (Tom) stood directly across from them.

"COME TO THE MIDDLE - BOTH TEAMS!" Everyone walked over casually to the middle. The leaders - Shindo and Tom - nodded at each other, acknowledging each other's existence. "GO TO YOUR POSITIONS. WHEN I SAY BEGIN, YOU CAN START THE BATTLE."

Everyone jumped to their respective positions. Nari stood with Shindo at the front while Hotaru and Miyuki stood at the back. Meanwhile, for the other team, Sefora and Tom stood at front while Agrava and Eden stood at the back.

"READY…." The announcer grabbed his floating mic energetically. "BEGIN!" Everyone dashed towards Agrava. Tom was about to erect a barrier when Miyuki suddenly threw a splash of water towards everyone.

"You can't delay the timing of our strongest team barrier with some water!" The other team cried out. "You're only handicapping yourselves!" Despite being drenched to the bone, Nari and the others continued to run towards Agrava. The other team continued their attempts in building up a strong barrier, but Hotaru's support in pushing everyone to run faster only gave the other team enough time to erect a decent barrier that can block one strong attack.

Nari quickly slashed at Agrava's barrier ruthlessly with everyone else backing her up. Sefora, as expected, glared at them. "I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY PRECIOUS TEAMMATE!" She erected her strongest barrier around her teammates as one big dome.

The moment the barrier was complete, Shindo grinned. "LET'S DO THIS, TEAM!"

Miyuki switched places with Shindo and swung his katana, controlling the water inside of the barrier that drenched the other team to attack from inside of the barrier. Nari and Hotaru released magic bullets against the barrier from the outside towards Sefora. The impact of both attacks caused a huge explosion.

Before the other team had a chance of stabilizing themselves, Miyuki switched positions with Shindo and Nari jumped behind him with Hotaru. Shindo slammed his hands against the ground, forcing pressure waves to break the equilibrium point of the ground in front of him. The other team crashed onto the floor, feeling the earthquake underneath them. "NOW!"

Hotaru reacted immediately from Shindo's voice. She pushed the air to accelerate Nari's speed as she took out her dagger. Jumping into the air and landing in front of the other team, she slashed at their upper arms and used their blood to freeze their hands and arms to the ground within seconds. Nari then jumped into the air, letting Hotaru knock them out with her air magic bullets.

"Nari, stay down!" Miyuki yelled out as he entered the gunfire of Hotaru's attacks with his barrier. He held Nari by the waist and jumped with her into the air to go back to the safety zone. Once they landed, the shooting stopped and the battle arena was silent.

"..." Everyone stared down at the battle in disbelief. The announcer stepped on the desk and grabbed the floating mic again. He shouted into it with more enthusiasm than before. "WITH TEAM 7 NO LONGER ABLE TO KEEP GOING, THE WINNER FOR THIS MATCH IS TEAM 8! CONGRATULATIONS, TEAM 8, FOR MAKING IT INTO THE SECOND ROUND!"

* * *

"So we were lucky that we won." Shindo tapped on the dining table as he took a bite out of his bread. "Our next opponent will definitely be the winners from two years ago, and they've treated their opponents rather… _interestingly_."

"Interestingly…?" Nari put down her spoon, looking at him questioningly.

"Some of the opponents' teammates would come out traumatized by the end of the battle… And yet, for some reason, they've all kept quiet about that team's magic abilities." Shindo sipped on his soup. When he put his bread down and wiped his hands with a napkin, he leaned against his chair. "For whatever reason it might be… We can speculate that they were probably blackmailed. But whatever it is, we still don't know what their exact power entails, so I'm going to need to do some research and scouting."

"That doesn't sound good for us at all." Miyuki's eyes narrowed. "We'll just have to prepare for every situation until we do figure out how to strategize against them effectively."

"Yeah, but we should all keep in mind that they aren't good news for us." Shindo twirled the fork in his hand before stabbing a piece of meat with it. "We need to be very careful in this battle... Unlike the other teams, this one is shrouded in mystery."

"Then we should get started with training soon." Hotaru looked at everyone worriedly. "We only have a few weeks to prepare, right?"

"Yeah." Nari stared at her soup, wondering what their next opponent was like. Hotaru sighed a little.

Shindo puts his fork down, getting the attention of everyone. "Okay, well… We're all worn out from today's battle, so get some rest after you finish eating." Once they all agreed, they went back to silently eating their food.

* * *

"Sefora- _san_ ," Hotaru called out, walking up to her desk.

"Hotaru- _san_." Sefora looked at Hotaru as she approached.

"Hey, I was wondering if you and your teammates were fine after that battle yesterday." Hotaru sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Other than minor injuries, there wasn't anything to worry about. The medics already healed those too."

"That's good. It wouldn't sit well with us if it were otherwise." She grinned. "Handshake? Or a high five?" She asked, giving out her hand.

Sefora gave a small smile, and lightly slapped Hotaru's outreached hand.

Hotaru's grin widened. "Nice choice. Aren't handshakes so overrated?"

The class' door soon slid open.

Everyone immediately went to their seats and quieted down once the defense magic teacher, Philomena Schulz, entered the room. She glanced at the students once, memorizing the number of students here for her class, before reaching her podium. "Today, we won't be doing practical sessions, so take out your notebooks." Schulz tapped on her podium with her index finger and the room turned dark in an instant. "As review, who can tell me the reason why we study support magic with defense magic?"

Hotaru raised her hand immediately. Mariana also raised her hand. The teacher wryly smiled since those two always participated; she wished the other students had the same enthusiasm as well. "Yes, Hotaru- _san_."

"It's because both support and defense magic uses math and physics. That's why we have a strong focus on both subjects when talking about those magic types. In order to perfect and create the strongest defense or support, we need to understand those theories and be able to implement them during battle." As Hotaru spoke, the holograms in the middle of every table flickered, showing everyone different types of barriers or allies being given support magic.

"Exactly. Depending on the type of magic we are using, from math, we might be using geometry, trigonometry, calculus, algebra, or a mixture of all. From physics, we could be applying the formulas for absolute pressure, velocity, speed, combustion, and more." She paused when she noted the incredulous looks of the students. She finally burst out into laughter. "Don't worry. When you're actually in battle, you won't have the time to calculate anything. Your body will automatically adjust accordingly."

"Then what's the point in learning all of this?!" One student complained. Others grumbled as well.

Mariana glared at them. "Isn't it obvious?" She huffed at them, standing from her seat. "If we're going to specialize and learn advanced techniques, then we need to know how it works, so that we can adjust it and get whatever result that we want! An example would be sealing. It's not like we're all sealing the same thing and since that takes time to set up, we need to make sure everything about it is being covered. It's a delicate process!" She sat back down with a displeased expression.

Schulz clapped in admiration. "Good. Very good. Mariana- _san_ is correct. You don't want to accidentally explode whatever you are sealing or whomever you are supporting in the long-term - just because you calculated incorrectly or set it up the wrong way." She smiled when she saw the grimaces on everyone's face once an example of what can go wrong appeared as a hologram for everyone to look at. "Keep in mind that defense and support magic can be pretty hard and delicate to handle, so you need to treat it carefully, especially when it becomes more complex and powerful. After all, there is only so much that your body can automatize."

* * *

Nari quickly entered the classroom for her healing class, sitting down in the seat closest to the middle. She briefly wondered to herself as to why she was in this class in the first place. "Ah, right… Anatomy…"

"Nari- _san_ …?" A shorter girl timidly walked over to her.

Nari squinted her eyes, trying to remember the name of her fellow classmate. "Um…"

"Hina." She encouraged her to repeat.

"Right, Hina- _san_. Do you want something from me?" Ever since the first fight, people seemed to acknowledge her existence, which she strangely did not like. It was worse than being treated as a nobody. Nari sighed.

"I… You're going against Team 5, aren't you…" Hina's voice was too quiet to the point that it almost annoyed her.

Nari tapped her finger on the table. "Can you get straight to the point, Hina- _san_? Class is about to start, you know."

"Be careful of Hiroshi- _san_." Hina's eyes darkened considerably. Her voice sounded utterly bitter. "He enjoys breaking people…"

"Hi...roshi…?" Before Nari could ask more about this Hiroshi person, Hina already slipped away to the other side of the classroom.

The healing teacher, Jason Astor, entered the classroom with his files. Nari looked up at him. "Okay, everyone." His voice reverberated across the room, but she found that she could not pay attention to him very well. Instead, Hina's words kept echoing in her mind. Nevertheless, she did try her best to focus on the teacher when he spoke again. "Today's class is about the brain and how magic affects it."

The brain flickered as a hologram in the middle of the tables. Astor walked around the classroom in a meditative fashion. "As you guys already know, the brain contains billions of neurons with them sending information to each other through synapses." The hologram zoomed in on the brain, showing millions of neurons that are flashing endlessly to show the amount of synaptic connections being made in every millisecond. "Who knows what neurons do to our magic?"

"It helps us control our magic. It also helps us determine the limits of our power capacity." One of the students energetically answered. Nari leaned against the back of her chair. "I heard that if we overuse or go beyond the boundaries of our power capacity, we can lose some of our neurons or lose some years of our lifespan, is that true?"

"It is true that we lose some years of our lifespan, but it's very unlikely for someone to lose some of their neurons when going a little bit beyond their limits. Of course, it's a different story if you break through two levels, instead of one level. In that case, you might lose some of your neurons." Astor paused before continuing. "While we normally can't do anything about losing some years of our lifespan, due to going beyond our current capacity, as long as you continue to train and hone your body and skills, you shouldn't worry about losing some years of your lifespan." He snapped his fingers and the hologram of a body appeared with magic lines going in several directions flickering everywhere around the body. "As for stopping the neurons from dying, some people have used sealing techniques, such as magic oaths, to pause the pending deaths of neurons; unfortunately, it can limit the power capacity of a user immensely."

"How do we determine how many years we lose when we go beyond our current limit or capability?" Hina asked.

"That's actually not very clear… But all you need to know for now is that for minors, it's a delicate issue and we cannot help them repair their lost lifespan or neurons because of their continuing growth, which is why the sealing techniques are commonly used for them until their body has fully grown. So in their case, they have a chance of full recovery once they become an adult." Holograms of children's brains flickered in the middle of the tables. The neurons slowly disappeared until the magic from the seal absorbed those neurons into a freezing state. Astor snapped his fingers again. "But for adults, generally speaking, we have developed a specialized technique to heal the neurons back to how it was before if they lost any and restore the lifespan of the person again. It takes months though for a complete recovery." From magic neurosurgery to a patient rehabilitating, a series of video-like images are shown to the students.

"Because most people and all students are normally level 1 users, the medical treatments match with that level. So all of the neurosurgeries are done with the level 1 user in mind. However, if the patient was level 2 or higher, only the specialized and more powerful level 2 or higher healers can treat them."

"What if a level 1 user breaks into the level 3 realm when going beyond their capacity?" Nari piped up.

"In that case, a level 3 healer would be their best bet for complete recovery, but the crusader who specialized in healing and defense magic is currently missing. We don't know where he is since he travels too much and rarely stays in one place. He calls it his mission to heal those who need it." The teacher sighed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "We do have several level 2 healers. While they can perhaps heal that level 1 user to a good extent, it won't be permanent."

"That crusader is level 3?" One of the younger students asked curiously.

"Yes, all four of the crusaders are level 3. I don't know anyone else who might be level 3, but perhaps, we might find a level 3 user unexpectedly in the future. And maybe, one of you guys will end up as a level 3 user after you guys graduate and build a career for yourselves." He gave a light laughter. Everyone blankly stared at him. He coughed and resumed his lecture. "Anyways, most people are level 1, but it's very possible for most of you guys to become level 2 once you specialize or enter higher positions."

"How does someone level up? What changes in their body?" Someone called out.

"If you strengthen and refine both your mind and body, you will gain more magic, have bigger power capacities, and will get the breakthrough that you need in your magical core to level up." He smiled brightly, clapping his hands to get the attention of the students. "There is no stop in our magical growth - no matter how old we are and how old we become!"

"Is that why our mortality rate is so low and the average age is very high?"

"Yes." He nodded at the student asking the question. "I know that everyone knows that there are 3 levels in magic power capabilities, but there is actually one other level - level 4… But no one has broken into level 4 yet, so it is actually unheard of and might possibly remain as an unknown until someone reaches it. Some wonder if it's even possible to be at such a level in the first place."

Nari looked at the teacher for an answer as she squirmed in her seat. "But why do people speculate that there's a level 4?"

"Since we have no limit to our magical growth, that is why some scholars think that there might be a level 4 category." Astor clapped his hands, making the lights switch back on. "This is the end of today's lecture. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

* * *

Shindo stood tall in front of the students. He faced the physical combat instructor, Takeo Miyamoto, and straightened his back. " _Kiritsu._ " He called out. The students stand simultaneously up-straight. " _Rei!_ " They bowed all together towards Miyamoto.

Everyone then shouted together with their heads down respectfully, " _YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU._ " The bamboo flooring of the dojo was covered by a blue firm mat. Everyone was barefoot and wore the typical white _dougi_ clothing with a black belt.

Miyuki took charge afterwards. "STARTING STRETCHES!" After everyone stood on the mat and began the appropriate stretching, Miyuki once again yelled out, "STOP." Everyone looked at him for the next set of directions. "NOW WE'LL BEGIN THE WARM EXERCISES!" He ensured that everyone stood in several lines behind the single white line that was drawn on the floor. "READY!" The first group walked up to the white line. "BEGIN!"

While this was going on, both girls and boys gathered around the entrance of the dojo gym. These were people who decided to not take the optional classes - usually first year students. Most students, however, tended to choose to take at least one optional class once they began their second year.

"STOP." Miyuki then nodded at Shindo to take charge.

"Okay everyone. Those in the weapon-based martial arts, go to the right side of the dojo. Those in the hand-to-hand combat, go to the left side of the dojo." Once everyone split up and went to their appropriate locations at Shindo's command, he continued. "Pair up and begin the practice matches at your own cues."

"Why are those two taking charge of the class? Wouldn't the upperclassmen get angry?" One of the newer female students asked an older male student.

"Kazuya- _sama_ and Yoh- _sama_ are the top martial artists in this school. They took the physical combat class by the storm when they first joined - Kazuya- _sama_ with his weapon-based martial arts and Yoh- _sama_ with his hand-to-hand combat. They were never beaten by anyone in the physical combat class." He educated the younger student. His words made the sparkles in that student's eyes become more vibrant. "In other words, they are the perfect men in the world." They both swooned as they stared at Shindo and Miyuki fight in their respective practice matches longingly.

Meanwhile, Hotaru finally finished her defense magic class early. She hurriedly stuffed her items into her bag and ran towards the dojo gym. She was fully intent on seeing a potentially half-naked Shindo in all of his fighting glory. As soon as she heard the high-pitched screams from the students surrounding the entrance, she sped up and pushed her way through the large crowd. When she made it to the front in a slump, she gaped at the intense practice matches.

Shindo and Miyuki were fighting against two decently looking male upperclassmen. All four had their tops off after sweating too much, focusing on defeating the other. The students who crowded at the entrance had a deep red flush in their cheeks - unable to handle the _nice_ view. Some even fainted.

"TIME FOR A BREAK!" Miyamoto shouted out. The four paused and joined the other students for their break. Shindo grabbed a towel and put it on his face, while Miyuki put his prescription sports goggles to the side and poured some of his water over his head to cool himself before wiping his face with the towel and putting on his sports goggles again. He soon left the towel on his head and slumped down on the floor. Shindo laughed at Miyuki's antics before joining him on the cool bamboo flooring.

Hotaru wanted to call out to them, but she felt that it would bring too much attention to herself, so she stayed unusually quiet. When she bumped into a smaller girl, she apologized, recognizing her to be Hina. "Ah, Hina- _san_."

The smaller girl tried to fade away with the background, but Hotaru grabbed a hold of her hand. "Why are you running away from me?" She blanched at the wind user.

"I didn't…" The shy girl didn't want people to know that she was also a huge fan of both Shindo and Miyuki. She sighed a little.

"END OF BREAK!" At the sound of the instructor's voice, the students all stood up, causing unrest among the fans. Hina took one more glance towards Shindo and Miyuki who still had their tops off before fainting in Hotaru's arms. Blood soon dripped down from the smaller girl's nose.

"H-hey!" Hotaru cried out, finally resorting to dragging Hina out of the room, so that she could take her to the healing teacher.

* * *

"How is it that I always end up being partnered with you no matter where I stand in this class whenever it's time for the practical sessions?" Mariana glanced at Nari with displeasure. "It makes me wish it was lecture everyday."

"At least, it's not every week?" She shrugged. "If it was every week, then I'll start wondering if the teacher has something against me."

"Pft." Mariana unexpectedly laughed before rearranging her face to remain indifferent. "Let's get this battle over with."

Nari sighed. "Okay." She pulled her feet to the other side of the field to prepare herself for another explosive end to their practical battle. While she did slightly improve under Miyuki's tutelage, it didn't help that Mariana was one of the best at combat magic; and since she was fire-based magic, her ice magic was pretty useless against it - unless her level overpowered Mariana's.

At the teacher's cue, Nari decided to stop using a barrier and just focused on dodging Mariana's magic bullets while creating a strong magic bullet in her hand and a weaker magic glob in her other hand. Once Nari reached Mariana, she sent out a wave of magic from the weaker magic glob. Mariana's barrier flickered once, but before it could stabilize again, Nari shot out her stronger magic bullet, breaking the barrier that Mariana had set up earlier.

The fire user's eyes widened in surprise and she used her other hand to throw up a quick deflective barrier. When Nari's magic bullet collided with the barrier, the impact detonated. The explosion crackled and they both flew backwards. Nari landed on the teacher's magic net again, coughing from the smoke, while Mariana landed gracefully on her feet. She stared at the ice user incredulously. Without saying anything else, she approached Nari with an indifferent gaze. "As expected of Kazuya- _sama_ 's pupil. You improved a lot from before. I guess your efforts in the first battle wasn't a fluke after all."

"Is that...a compliment?" Nari wryly smiled.

"Obviously. I mean it when I said that you improved a lot from before. Your hard work is obviously paying off." The fire user crossed her arms and huffed.

"Thanks, but don't you think that I'm annoying?" Nari struggled to sit up. Mariana helped her up. "Ah, thanks."

"You're welcome and I used to think that you were annoying - always lazy and never trying hard in class. But since you're working hard to improve yourself, I can't hate you. After all, I do like hard working people." Mariana said in a snit. "I guess I'll continue to support your team and… your efforts. Of course, my team won't lose to you guys that easily if we do go against each other." She sniffed before turning around to leave.

"Of course. I would be disappointed if you lost easily against us." Nari wiped the dust from her shirt. "Mariana." They locked eyes for a brief moment.

"Isn't that obvious?" Mariana huffed begrudgingly and walked away; her lips soon tugged into a pleased smile.

Nari merely sighed and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "The things that happen…" She finally shook her head before heading back to the locker room.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay another update! Let me know if there are any grammar, spelling, or any other mistake in the story, so that I can fix it. Thank you!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"..." Miyuki stood quietly in front of the sofa. He looked unsure as to what he should do about the sleeping girl on the sofa, but the living room was a shared space, so there shouldn't be any big deal about him being there.

Nari hugged the pillow tightly; her forehead began to crease, so he loosened them with his finger in a gentle manner - afraid of waking her up. His finger lingered there. He didn't really want to move them when she slept so peacefully in his presence. This one innocent touch seemed to flip a switch inside of him though. He, however, forced it down without hesitation. After all, for her sake, he knew that he shouldn't make any rash decisions by letting whatever it was inside of him to take over his actions. Shaking his head, he then removed his finger from her forehead and sighed.

He really wasn't sure as to what he should do about her new habit. After the first fight, she took on the bad habit of sleeping in the living room on the sofa everyday. He couldn't even scold her about how there were guys in the house since he knew of her insomniac habits. He deeply sighed again. What was he to do...

"There has to be a better way." He muttered under his breath. But he found that he did not have the heart to stop her new habit, even though he did let her know of his disapproval once, because he knew that her sleeping on the sofa in the living room was a show of her trust in them. He felt pleased by this fact instead. "I guess I'll let her sleep like this, but…"

He grabbed a blanket and wrapped her around it. He stifled a laugh when she looked like a burrito. Her relaxed expression and soft breathing made him smile as he moved a piece of her hair off her face. He even found that she had a little bit of drool on her lips. He couldn't help but laugh a little bit more. "...Cute." The unexpected word that he used surprised even him. He soon coughed into his hand and sighed to himself. He had to get a hold of himself.

Miyuki walked over to her room to keep her door open. Once he reached her again, he carried her carefully to her bed. After he pulled the blankets over her to keep her warm, he stood up and sighed again. Looking around the room, he once again confirmed how bare the room was. Only one desk, one bed, one laundry basket, and a drawer for her clothes... There were no decorations. He did note the pitcher of water and the cup on her desk though.

"Why does she live like this…"

 _It was as if she could care less about her life._

* * *

"So you guys are our next opponent." A mocking voice called out to them. Nari turned around, glancing at a thin male. The sneer on his face looked permanent. She wondered if he even ate enough.

Another male walked up to them. He was slightly chubby with a kind expression, but that kindness felt deceiving once he spoke. "You've got to be kidding me. We'll probably wipe the floor with them in seconds."

"They have two females. How can they win against an all-males team like us?" The lanky male with glasses jabbed at Nari's shoulder harshly. "Such a weakling too. Aren't you an average?"

A shorter male started to laugh hard at his words. "She does look weak too. Sucks for the best of their year, eh? Miyuki? Shindo? Little girl?"

Hotaru's eye twitched. "I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!" She gritted her teeth in frustration. Ignoring her, they surrounded Nari in a taunting manner.

Before Hotaru could make a move, Shindo stopped her. He shook his head. "Don't, Hotaru."

"But-" She stopped talking once Miyuki put his hand on her shoulder to silence her.

"She doesn't need any help." He reassured her.

"I know she doesn't need help," Ai hissed. "But I need to smack those shits into a volcano and wipe a zoo with them -"

"What do you fear the most, average loser?" The potentially anorexic male pulled at the collar of Nari's shirt. She stood there silently as if she was looking past him. "Are you listening to me?" His eyes darkened, promising pain in their upcoming battle.

She sighed, pulling his own collar towards her. She locked eyes with him in a lazy manner. "Hiroshi- _san_ , don't you have better things to do than talk with this so-called average loser? Since you guys won two years ago, you should act like respectable champions instead of acting like loser bullies." She sneered and pushed him towards his team.

She felt someone's arm around her shoulder. She almost flinched but managed to stop herself in time. Miyuki's head leaned against hers as he snickered in her ear. "Don't you mean yapping dogs?" The other team stiffened. They clearly heard his words.

Hiding her discomfort at the close distance between them, her lips quickly tugged into an amused smirk. There was no longer a lump in her throat. "You shouldn't be mean to the previous champions, Miyuki. It's not nice." She truly enjoyed the way they glared at them.

"...But we should give them a proper warning. Now… Gentlemen, I sincerely hope that you don't underestimate the women of our team." Shindo stepped forward as well, sporting a charming smile. "They're the ones who you should be standing clear of the most, after all. It would be a pity for the fallen champions if they lose _again,_ due to their foolish misogyny."

"Yeah, if you do anything to Nari- _chan_ and if you only judge me based on my stature, then you'll be sorry!" Hotaru stalked up to them, almost making them step back at her hyper ferocity. "Besides, I'm sure my height is just perfect for jabbing my fists right into your balls, you dicks! _MeOW_ -"

"Hotaru. Enough." Shindo narrowed his eyes at her, roughly pulling her arm towards him to stop her tirade. She flinched and proceeded to silently sulk.

Hiroshi angrily went up to them and growled at Nari's face, ignoring Miyuki. "You're going to regret insulting us, loser. When it's time for battle, you're going to beg for mercy and sob as you face your worst memories again and again like a horrible nightmare." Without letting her speak, he pulled her towards him. "And when you do, I'll laugh at your face and materialize it, so that all can see what you suffered through the most. All of the skeletons will be out of your closet. Now wouldn't that be fun?"

Miyuki threw Hiroshi back to his team while coldly staring at him. The thin male shivered a little. "Stay away from her. You're not allowed to breathe in the same air as her and-"

Nari glanced at him weirdly. She did not know how to deal with this kind of Miyuki. "What are you-" Her heart raced uncomfortably and the lump in her throat came back. Her wrist trembled again, but she held onto it tightly to hide her discomfort. She did not like the sound of his words. Panic made it hard for her to breathe properly.

"Only her teammates, including me, are allowed to be in the same vicinity as her." Miyuki's indifferent expression made her fingers twitch. Her heart slowed down and she could breathe properly again. Her throat no longer felt parched. She relaxed her posture under his touch.

"Oi, Hiroshi. There's no point in talking with these weaklings. We'll just show them our strength during the battle." The slightly chubby male motioned to him.

"But Jeff-" He was about to lash out when the lanky male with glasses stopped him.

"Enough." The lanky male with glasses shook his head.

"Aaron…" Hiroshi finally sighed as if accepting his fate. "I guess it would be satisfying to see them traumatized to the point that they would never want to be in combat ever again."

"As we did to most of our opponents in the past." The shorter male patted him on the shoulder.

"You have a point there, Usman." They snickered together.

They were about to turn away from them when Nari stopped them with her words. "It's best if you don't."

"What?" Usman, the shorter male, stared at her weirdly.

"It would be best to not make my worst memories come to life. Any materialization would be a bad idea. Instead, just torment me over and over again if Hiroshi _-san_ does capture me with his magic." Everyone looked at her oddly.

Hiroshi snorted. "As if I'll do as you say. Saying such things aren't going to change my mind or strategy."

"You can't handle it. You won't be able to control it." Her eyes narrowed at him. The grim heaviness in her expression made him a little uncomfortable. "This...is my only warning to you..."

The anger flared in him. "SHUT UP. I CAN DO WHAT I WANT. Don't act like you know everything when you don't." He glared at her one last time before stomping off with the rest of his team.

She watched them quietly. "Are you that worried about us seeing your worst memories?" Miyuki asked her straightforwardly. She did not look at him. Her fingernails dug into the skin of her arm. Her posture turned rigid.

"..." Nari stayed silent as if drowning in her thoughts. "Even if I am… There's nothing I can do about it." She then threw Miyuki's arm off her shoulder. Without glancing at her team, she began to walk away from them. "I have somewhere to go first. See you guys at home."

* * *

"We don't know much about them - even after doing the research and scouting." Shindo announced with disappointment permeating his voice. "While we can speculate that Hiroshi's power can materialize people's worst memories, we don't know how it's done, but we can speculate that the initiation is done by touching their target."

"Then what should the plan be?" Nari asked solemnly.

"If Hotaru and I combine our strengths at the front, we can keep the other team away from you two. That way, you guys can observe the other team and act accordingly. Of course, the best situation would be me catching them off-guard with my pressure waves and then Hotaru shooting air magic bullets at them, but if anyone manages to get past us, Miyuki…" Shindo turned to face his friend. "I need you to try to block any attacks with your barrier since Nari's barrier is still pretty much shit - _no insults intended_." Nari just shrugged. "Anyways, you two will do a double blade and magic bullet attack to anyone who goes past us."

"So ideally, we should not be apart from each other." Miyuki confirmed. He leaned back against his chair as he got lost in his thoughts, despite listening intently to the discussion at hand.

"Yeah. We don't have as much battle experience as them and we don't know much about them. Right now, it's key that we don't get too close to the other team in distance until we know what we're dealing with." Shindo sighed a little. He then glanced at Nari. "Their target is Nari, so we have to make sure that they don't reach her for sure."

Nari grimaced a little before whispering out, "I'll do my best to dodge them."

"We know you will." Hotaru smiled at her and tugged lightly at her friend's arm. The ice user could only give a pained smile in response.

"Anyways, with the little time that we have left, let's continue practicing our strategy and training for it." Shindo ended the discussion like that, but instead of energetically going out to train, they fell into a solemn silence that reflected of their neverending worries about the upcoming battle.

* * *

"For today's magical theory class, we will be talking about magic oaths." The magical theory teacher, Adi Widjaya, sat down on the chair, facing the students. "Can anyone explain to everyone what magic oaths are?"

Hotaru raised her hand energetically. She stretched out her arm, so that Widjaya could see her. He suppressed his laughter. "Yes, Hotaru- _san_."

"Magic oaths are a type of sealing magic. It uses advanced conditional logic in its chants and can affect pretty much anything. While it usually doesn't require verbal chants, it does require the agreement between two or more adults. If it has to do with a minor, then the minor is not allowed to go against the magic oath under the witness' agreement. The witness must be an unrelated adult. If the witness agrees that the minor should go under the oath, there will be three people tied to the oath - the caster, the witness, and the minor." She explained in a clear manner. However, a small frown lingered in her expression when she talked about the minor.

"Very good, Hotaru- _san_. Just as she said, magic oaths are a type of sealing magic. What's so special about it is that it uses the magic of all the people involved in it in order to complete the oath."

"Then what does that have to do with magical theory?" One of the students asked.

"Good question. That is what we will discuss next." He snapped his fingers and a holographic image appeared in the middle of everyone's tables. The image consisted of complex magic lines that intertwined with each other. "I'm sure you remember from our previous classes...but this set of lines is how our magic looks at its most basic form. Since you know that magic oaths tie the magic of all of the people involved in it, how do you think it will look?"

Hotaru raised her hand again. "Yes, Hotaru _-san_."

"Like a knot?" She asked.

The teacher only smiled. "Anyone else?"

Mariana raised her hand in response. "Yes, Mariana _-san_."

"Twisted strings?"

"Not really, but that is actually very close to what I wanted you guys to say." Widjaya snapped his fingers again. The hologram flickered to several lines intertwining into a mermaid braid-like pattern. "This is how it looks like."

Before the teacher had a chance to explain more about the importance of the intertwining of different magic, someone cried out. "But when would people use magic oaths?"

With a small sigh as if accepting this change in direction of his magical theory class, Widjaya waved his hand; the holograms changed into four young adults facing each other. "For example, the crusaders used a magic oath to create their pact about keeping the appearance of the demon king a secret from the world." He waved his hand again. A witness, a row of potential suspects, and several agents flickered. The row of potential suspects stood against the wall, while the witness and the agents faced them on the other side with a glass wall in between them. "Another use of the magic oath is to swear all the agents to secrecy, so that the witness' safety is secured. We don't want potential suspects to try to kill the witness because an agent accidentally let such valuable information slip from their mouth."

Hotaru raised her hand. "Yes, Hotaru _-san_."

"So it's used for protection then?" She asked for clarification. "And to keep secrets?"

"Primarily that is what it's used for. After all, just verbal promises with no weight to truly make it valuable can only do so much for someone. Of course, magic oaths can have loopholes if you can find them, but most are extremely careful and consider every loophole before making the oath. That is why it uses advanced conditional logic. Sometimes, an oath can take an entire twenty pages to write out before they verbally finalize it with the other person or people."

"Is it possible to break or nullify the magic oath?" Nari immediately interjected.

"You can break it if you're an adult, but if they set up a condition in which you have to suffer the consequences that are stated in the oath if you break it, then obviously, you'll be dealing with that. In the worst case though, you could die if that was the consequence for breaking the oath." The teacher confirmed. "But usually, you would feel a warning flare inside of you, so that you would have enough time to stop yourself from breaking it."

She inquired again. "But what about nullifying? Is it not possible?"

"If both parties agree to terminate the oath, then the oath can be nullified." The teacher clapped his hand and a timer appeared in the middle of each table. "You guys should also know that the oaths can contain time limits if it's verbally said. If not, then the oath should last for the rest of your life."

Nari paused before raising her questions to the teacher. "What if the minor was forced into a magic oath as a minor and then later becomes an adult? Will that same magic oath be in effect then? Or would they have to redo the magic oath again but with the permission of the minor who is no longer a minor anymore?"

"Usually the oath will be broken or nullified by the time the minor is an adult - no matter what. You are magically not allowed to set up a condition beforehand in which the magic oath will still be in effect and will be affecting the minor even after they become an adult." Widjaya paused, feeling a little odd but happy about Nari's participation in class. "So if the other person wants the magic oath to be in effect again, they must forge a new magic oath with the permission and acceptance of the minor who became an adult. If they do not want to renew it, then the magic oath cannot be done."

"In any case, the minor doesn't seem to have much rights in regards to being pushed into a magic oath. It depends on their luck on who their witness will be and how much time they have left before they become an adult to break out of the magic oath if they did not want to be in it in the first place." Miyuki pointed out in displeasure.

"Yes… Mostly, it's supposed to be used to protect the minor from danger, but… There are some unfortunate cases like that." Widjaya almost winced under Miyuki's piercing gaze. "However, magic oaths are not often used by people and this is especially so, when it comes to minors, so it's actually very rare to meet a minor who was forced into such an oath in the first place." The magical theory teacher snapped his fingers and the lights turned back on. The holograms disappeared from the tables. "Well that's it for today. We'll talk more about the importance of the intertwining of several magic and its shape tomorrow..."

* * *

"…" Filling her mug up with water, Hotaru softly placed the jug down.

' _What happened in the time we were separated, Nari-chan?'_

Frowning down at her own reflection, Hotaru traced the rim of her cup. Her mind was filled with worries about Nari.

"Aren't you going to drink that?" Shindou leaned against the entrance of the kitchen, slightly narrowing his eyes at her.

She played down her flabbergasted reaction with a joke. "Yeah! I was gonna! Give a person a moment before they potentially drown themselves... _Geez.._." Finishing it off with a roll of her eyes, Hotaru sipped at her water.

"Sure, you were..." Shindou made his way over to her and grabbed her mug, finishing the remaining water in it.

"Why wouldn't I..." She sent him an irritated glance and headed for the entrance of the kitchen.

"I don't know," he answered with an exaggerated shrug when she looked at him from over her shoulder.

"Man... Can't you let a girl have her period thoughts to herself, you masculine period-less vermin?! Go relax in your room, you lucky ovary-less man!" Turning back to face him, she pulled down on her eyelid and flashed him her tongue. She wasn't really on her period, but that apparently disturbed men and usually got them off anyone's case.

Sighing, he walked over to her and poked her forehead. "I think _you_ are the one who needs to relax right now, Hotaru." With that, he returned back to his room.

She rubbed her forehead with a pout. "…Meanie."

* * *

" _It's rare...to find such a person." A deep mellow voice rang in her ears. "Poor child." She felt someone's long fingers lift her chin up. She stared into the dark pools on his face. How was it possible for someone to have such serene eyes?_

 _The ground was charred violently from the flames. Her hands grabbed at the dirt. A hollow emptiness lingered inside of her. The nauseating smell of blood suffocated her. And yet, the only thing she could think of was how beautiful his eyes were. "My sin…" Her throat felt parched._

 _His soothing voice echoed. "And that is the price that you pay... The consequence-"_

Nari opened her eyes dully, waking up from her dream, before realizing that it was still dark at night. When she glanced at the time, it was barely midnight. This time, her dream was relatively okay. It made her feel a little better. Realizing that her throat was actually parched, she reached out to grab the pitcher when she discovered that she ran out of water.

"Just my luck…" She muttered disdainfully as she began to head to the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around her. She paused when she noticed Miyuki sitting on the sofa; she could smell the whiff of lavender from his cup.

"Why are you up, Nari?" He asked without even turning around to see her.

"Needed water." She coughed a little, due to her dry throat.

"..." He stayed silent for a few seconds before asking her. "Do you want some tea instead? I made too much."

"Okay." She placed the water pitcher on the dining table and grabbed a cup. She then joined Miyuki at the sofa, pouring a warm cup of tea for herself. Feeling a bit odd about seeing him at night, she couldn't help but ask, "So why are you up, Miyuki?"

"Thinking."

"Ah…" They fell into a comfortable silence. Usually, she would feel uncomfortable about being around a male by herself in her pajamas, but for some reason, she could not make herself be on guard around him. After all, there was something soothing about his appearance and presence that night.

Nevertheless, she wasn't sure whether she needed to leave anyways, so she continued to sit motionlessly on the sofa next to him while fidgeting with the cup in her hands. The tea warmed her hands, making her forget about the chilly night.

"...Are you worried about tomorrow's match?" Miyuki unexpectedly asked her.

"..." Nari looked up at him. He faced her with curiosity simmering in his expression. "I don't know." She stared at the liquid in the cup, swirling it absentmindedly. "Should I be?"

"They're going to target you." His words made her eyes turn darker considerably.

"I know." She sipped at her tea. Her thoughts drowned her endlessly, suffocating her and destroying any sense of relief she had earlier. "There's nothing much we can do, but follow our initial strategy."

"Nari," He paused before continuing, "As long as nothing drastic happens during the match, we'll win."

"The faster this match ends, the better it is for everyone." She placed her cup down on the table. "...Miyuki…if."

"Hm?" He suddenly shivered from the chilly temperature when he put his cup down. Feeling a bit guilty about having the blanket all to herself, Nari scooted next to him and hesitantly draped half of her blanket over his shoulders. "Ah, thanks." Seeing the appreciation in his eyes, she could not help but drop her gaze towards her cup. There was something else in his eyes that she felt was probably important, but for now, she did not want to know what it was. The safety she felt around him in this single moment held a higher priority in her mind anyways.

"You're welcome." Their body heat mingled together, creating a warm coziness to the both of them. " _Nee_ , Miyuki, if something happens during the match, are you confident that you'll remain calm and focused on ending the match as quickly as possible?"

"Why do you ask?" His voice rumbled from his throat. It was soothing to her ears.

"Just wondering." She murmured, leaning against him without realizing. Worry flickered in her eyes. The heat radiating from his body enveloped her. She almost felt that she could even drown in his warmth happily.

"Is this about Hiroshi's power?" His eyes narrowed at her. "What exactly is your worst memory that you're acting like this?" Her heart stopped for a brief second. She could not breathe. The lump in her throat came back. She wanted to puke. In the end, she took a deep breath to calm herself, clearing out her thoughts as much as she could.

She then tried to hide the grief in her face. "I…" She desperately wanted to tell him, but the magic oath she was under stopped her. "I… I can't. I want to, but I can't." Frustration lingered in her expression.

Miyuki seemed to recognize what she was trying to say. "You're under a magic oath." He breathed out, a little bit astonished that he met someone who was under such an oath. "And it has to do with your worst memory." This did not sound good at all.

"All I can say is that I'll try to avoid Hiroshi's power, but if I happen to get caught in it, then I'll do my best to deal with whatever materializes." She hugged her legs closer to her. "I…" Her grip tightened.

"..." He slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulder as if he was still deciding on how he could make her let go of her worries. "We'll be there with you. Don't carry the burden by yourself-"

Her fingers curled into tight fists. Her entire body suddenly shuddered. "But I-" Her voice shook, clearly showing her inner turmoil and the disturbance it was causing inside of her mind. Her stress rapidly built up to a boiling point. She could feel tears sprouting in the corner of her eyes.

"Nari, think of it this way." He immediately interjected in hopes to clear away her anxiety and direct her thoughts to a healthier viewpoint that she would definitely appreciate. "If you don't share the burden with us, then we can't possibly win against that team, but if we share the burdens with each other, then we have a good chance of winning."

"Because we know each other's limits and weaknesses and can then cover them up with the use of our strategies and strengths." She reaffirmed his reasoning.

He nodded. "So no matter what happens on the field, as long as we trust that we have the best interest in mind for each other, then all will end well." Relief poured over her and she immediately calmed down - _just as he had expected_. She then wiped her eyes with her arms in a relaxed manner.

His words honestly made perfect sense to her, so she decided to no longer worry about tomorrow's match. "...Okay." Soon after she spoke, rain trickled down from the sky.

 _Pitter patter. Pitter patter._

"It's raining again." He muttered under his breath.

Usually, such close distance with someone, especially a male, made her uncomfortable, but strangely, she still felt safe and warm next to him. She even wondered briefly to herself if it was because she finally allowed herself to be comfortable around him. Shaking those thoughts away, she focused on the sound of the pouring rain and the sound of his steady breathing, not noticing that she was drifting off to dreamland once more.

"Nari, you-" He was about to tell her that they should go to sleep now, so that they would be fully recharged for tomorrow's fight when he finally noticed the way she breathed against the crane of his neck comfortably. "I guess that's pointless to say now." He chuckled under his breath. "...Good night."

* * *

"SHROUDED IN MYSTERY - THE CHAMPIONS FROM TWO YEARS AGO. WE HAVE TEAM 5 WITH HIROSHI- _SENSHU,_ JEFF- _SENSHU,_ AARON- _SENSHU_ , AND USMAN- _SENSHU_!" Just as the announcer shouted that into his mic, the crowds went wild as the four members of that team walked to the middle of the battle arena with their fists up in the air. Among the cheering crowds, however, there were many who looked upon team 5 with disdain and unconcealed hatred.

"NOW WE HAVE THIS YEAR'S POTENTIAL CROWD FAVORITE! TEAM 8 WITH MIYUKI- _SENSHU_ , SHINDO- _SENSHU_ , HOTARU _-SENSHU_ , AND NARI- _SENSHU_!" The announcer put on earplugs, knowing what was going to happen next. As he expected, the screams from all the girls and boys echoed throughout the stadium. Feeling relieved that he was not a victim this time around, he smiled and watched team 8 walk to the middle of the arena.

"Are you ready to beg for mercy, loser?" Hiroshi sneered as he pulled Nari by the collar towards him.

She just blinked at the thin male. "Whatever you say…" His eye twitched. She pried his fingers off of her collar. "You should eat some more." She commented lightly before walking back to her team. Anger pooled in his eyes.

"To think that a little girl would be my opponent. I can't stand this." Aaron muttered under his breath, snorting when he saw Hotaru. "As if she could match up to my level."

Hotaru glared at him; she clearly heard everything he said. "WELL THIS GIRL IS GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS." She gritted her teeth as anger boiled inside of her. "AND I'M NOT. A. _LITTLE_. GIRL!"

"BOTH TEAMS! PLEASE GO TO YOUR POSITIONS. WHEN I SAY BEGIN, YOU CAN START THE BATTLE!" At the sound of the announcer's voice, everyone jumped away from the other team, landing in their battle positions. Shindo and Hotaru stood at the front, while Miyuki and Nari stood at the back.

"Prepare to lose." Jeff nastily smiled at team 8. He stood at the front with Aaron and the other two stood behind them.

"IS EVERYONE READY…?!" When everyone nodded, the announcer jumped on top of the table with his floating mic. "READY…" The tension inside of the stadium was at an all new high. "BEGIN!"

Before Shindo and Hotaru were about to attack everyone on the other team, Jeff punched the ground in between them with his knuckle, creating an explosive wind to push them back. Hiroshi created a black dome that surrounded everyone immediately, not leaving much room for everyone to scatter around.

"Got you!" Aaron grinned as his hidden chain shot out and wrapped around Hotaru. He pulled it down harshly. She slammed to the ground. Blood trickled down her head wound.

"HOTARU!" Shindo gritted his teeth before jumping back again when Jeff attacked him.

"Augh." Hotaru shakily stood up, but Aaron released her from his chain by throwing towards Shindo, making them crash into each other. Shindo carried her from Jeff and Aaron's double attack. "He's a... ch-chain manipulator…?" She managed to say.

"No, he's probably a metal manipulator." Shindo confirmed. He did not have the time to check on the others as he did his best to avoid being attacked by both Aaron and Jeff, while Hotaru began to recover from her concussion and minor injuries with the help of her basic healing magic.

Under the dust clouds floating around after the initial explosive attack by Jeff, Usman and Hiroshi ran past Hotaru and Shindo in seconds. Miyuki held his katana tightly as he closed his eyes, using his other senses to pinpoint the location of the other two. Nari sluggishly stood up from the ground and gripped her dagger. "They're coming." The moment Miyuki whispered that to Nari, she jumped backwards, sensing someone trying to touch her. Hiroshi appeared from one of the dust clouds nearby with goggles on his face. He grinned like a madman; his eyes flickered of utter enjoyment.

"Fu-" She jumped back again, but Hiroshi dashed towards her persistently. Realizing that Nari was at a big disadvantage with her unstable footing, Miyuki threw a water bullet towards him, stopping him in his tracks. Usman took this chance to punch Miyuki on the face, but Miyuki also managed to slash at Usman's shoulder painfully. Nevertheless, Miyuki flew backwards and crashed into the walls of the black dome. Usman went down on his knees and grabbed at his shoulder. He groaned at the growing ache as the blood flowed from his wound.

Nari used the opportunity Miyuki gave her by quickly avoiding Hiroshi's attacks with his hand successfully. She honed her focus on him, slashing at his side with her dagger. She rolled down on the ground and landed on the other side. Getting up again, she faced him diligently without losing her concentration on the battle at hand.

"Augh, what...did...you...do to...me…?" Miyuki just barely managed to say to Usman who grunted in discomfort. He shakily stood back up to fight again.

"Heh, you feel it now. That's my power - to paralyze people with a single touch." The shorter male stubbornly ran towards Miyuki. Before Miyuki had the chance to grab his katana from the ground, Usman tackled him to the ground viciously. Miyuki gritted his teeth, no longer able to move from the ground.

"Damn...it...all." Miyuki managed to curl his fingers into fists.

"Your team's strategy would have worked if you were a little bit faster. No, you still would have ended up like this because we have more battle experience than you guys and we knew what your team's magic powers were beforehand, so we could have dealt with the fight accordingly - based on what battle positions you guys take in the beginning." Usman casually explained as he made Miyuki sit with his hands behind his back and locked his position, so that he couldn't move. "Now then… It's time for the finale."

"Wha-what…?" Miyuki glanced worriedly at Nari who was too focused on dodging Hiroshi's attacks while attacking him whenever she finds an opening.

"Her trust in you will be her downfall." Usman commented lightly, kicking Miyuki away from him as he landed on his face. The paralysis user dashed towards Nari and did a double attack, catching her off-guard. She tried to escape and regroup, but Usman's speed and Hiroshi's persistent attacks ended up trapping her near Miyuki.

The moment Nari dodged Hiroshi's attack again, Usman punched her in the stomach, making her fall to the ground. He picked her up by the hair until she was completely on her knees. The paralysis that Miyuki felt was slowly disappearing, but before he had the chance to move his limbs, Hiroshi's hand grabbed Nari's face roughly. His lips tugged into a sadistic grin; he finally got his prey. "And now… It's time for your hell." Glancing at Miyuki, Hiroshi motioned to the water user. "Usman, take care of him for me."

"Alright." Usman grinned.

* * *

Nari blinked once. She fell to her knees. Burnt ashes permeated the air. She could feel her hands shaking and her throat straining. Her heart beat once and then twice before it shuddered. A sense of dread and horror gradually suffocated her. "N-no…" Everything seemed so utterly familiar to her. From the ground that she's sitting on to the smell of the smoke, she could feel herself becoming nauseous.

Her hands touched the ground as she tried to grab onto anything to stop herself from shaking. "I… I have to…" She wanted to escape. She wanted to remember that it was only a dream - an illusion. But her senses were crying out to her desperately - that everything was very real. "Ngh…"

 _It's like her dream - every night - haunting her._

"KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL!" The devastating sound of feet marching and the howls of the creatures whom she did not want to see ever again surrounded her like a raging fire. The abrupt screams from the enemy did a number on her heart. She felt faint and was unaware of where she was for a few seconds. When she got a hold of herself again, she coughed and shakily stood up. Her heart pumped hard and her legs felt strained for some reason. She then forced herself to walk towards the smoky region. _One step… Two steps…_ Her footsteps felt heavier the more she pushed herself to go forward. She bit her bottom lip and held her arm with her hand. Even though she knew what would happen next, she could not stop herself from feeling the overwhelming apprehension and fear that permeated her being.

 _They were always there - never leaving her - whether it was inside of her dream or her subconscious._

Sweat trailed down her forehead. She could taste the salt. She could even hear the pounding in her ears. _Badump. Badump. Badump._ Or was that the sound of her heart? She could no longer tell - nor did she care to know. "I…" She managed to say. Her throat felt parched.

 _There was no escape - not here and not there._

A high pitched scream pierced the air mercilessly. Goosebumps lingered on her skin. The nauseating smell of blood soon suffocated her. She finally ran - _ran until she could no longer feel her legs_. Her feet felt bare; the prickly rocks pierced her skin as if condemning her very existence.

 _Her sin…_

Everywhere she went, she found unrecognizable corpses. Organs no longer retained its original color. Blood stained the very ground until it no longer looked like dirt, but rather an ocean of red. The flowers that were originally there turned into black piles of ashes. She tripped, falling to her knees. The fire still burned viciously around her. Her hands grabbed at the dirt.

 _There was no one there - but her._

From behind her, she heard the mocking laughter of those that killed. Their cries of victory shook her violently. Their footsteps came closer.

 _It was then… that she saw -_

 _one of the many who she had failed._

The face of a familiar little girl who adored her - _who looked up to her_ … Her body laid unclothed and torn. Her previously healthy white skin was smudged by the red and black. Her eyes from the severed head stared at her with terror and pain. It etched into her mind like a horrible nightmare. She breathed heavily; her heart raced. She could not breathe. She could not think.

 _To think that the demons would-_

She felt something rushing out of her throat. The smell of blood, the corpses of the people she had failed, the mocking screeches from the demons, and the horrible truth of what the demons did to desecrate the bodies of the townspeople overwhelmed her. She puked everything out onto the ground. Tears finally streamed down her face.

 _It wasn't fair. IT WASN'T FAIR._

Something tore from her throat. Something loud ripped out of her. She grabbed at her hair, wishing this would end already. " _STOP IT!_ "

* * *

" _STOP IT!_ " Nari shrieked as she pulled at her hair, startling everyone. Hiroshi's power had reached its peak and their surroundings were changing too quickly. Dead bodies piled around everyone. Hiroshi paled considerably. Nari continued to scream until her throat was in severe pain. She did not stop.

Everyone stopped fighting, watching in horror of what they were seeing. Demons began to materialize with a fire that blazed horribly.

"HIROSHI, STOP THE MATERIALIZATION!" Jeff yelled out desperately as he began to direct his attacks towards the demons. "STOP IT, DAMMIT!"

"I-I CAN'T! WHAT DO I DO?!" Hiroshi screamed; panic clearly overwhelmed him.

"THEN CONTROL THE MATERIALIZATIONS!" Aaron angrily cried out. He protected Hotaru and Shindo with his chains. "WE CAN'T CONTINUE THE FIGHT LIKE THIS!"

"I CAN'T CONTROL IT! I CAN'T! THE MEMORY IS TOO STRONG! I CAN'T CONTROL IT! I CAN'T EVEN END IT!" Hiroshi started to sob. "SOMEONE NEEDS TO DEFEAT EVERYTHING HERE. PLEASE!"

"Fuck-" Usman grabbed Miyuki, canceling his paralysis. "Hurry up and defend yourself!" He handed Miyuki his katana and dived into the hordes of demons to lessen the amount of opponents they need to deal with.

"KILL THEM ALL. KILL THEM!" The demons screeched out. Hotaru felt nauseous as she shuddered from the overwhelming bloodlust they were emitting. Shindo immediately blocked her from them, calming her.

"Hotaru, I'll need your support, so get up and let's show them the results of our training." Shindo murmured to her.

"Okay." She confidently stood up, swinging her bell in his direction and releasing a magic incantation that would help with his defense and speed. "I'm ready."

"Let's do this." Shindo gave a small smirk before dashing towards the demons.

Before anyone could kill the demons, however, the demons started to dodge their attacks and ran towards Nari. "KILL HER. KILL HER BEFORE SHE KILLS US!"

"What the-" Shindo gritted his teeth.

"THEY'RE FOLLOWING THE MEMORY! THEY'RE FOLLOWING THE MEMORY!" Hiroshi started to laugh maniacally. Jeff quickly knocked him out - annoyed at how useless he was in this situation. After putting him in some corner with a barrier, he observed what was happening.

Miyuki tried to protect Nari from the demons, but they soon knocked him to the ground. There were just too many of them. Strangely, they were not interested in killing or eating him. They instead continued to march towards the kneeling girl.

"I won't…" Nari whispered as she felt something snap inside of her. A magic circle glowed beneath her. The moment that circle broke, a surge of absolute power and life filled her very core. It was so familiar - _so welcomingly dangerous._ She stared at the sky that was no longer a sky in this black dome. "I won't let you live. I won't..." She gritted her teeth, snarling at the demons. "I WON'T LET ANY OF YOU LIVE!"

An unnatural stillness consumed her body. The blank look on her face made the other team shiver. Her concentration on the ground caused waves of her magic to flow out of her, keeping the demons away from her. Soon, she could see, could hear, and could smell all of their blood in her mind. She could pinpoint all of their location - almost sickeningly. She finally put her hands to the ground. " _Frigore sanguis._ " Her soft whisper triggered a terrifying outcome.

 _Who to kill._

 _Who to spare._

 _Who to numb._

A huge surge of energy pulsed in the ground; in seconds, the ground froze as every demon paused in their march before turning into an unnatural blue. They immediately shattered into ice dust, making them permanently disappear from the world. It was only then that the field remained deathly silent.

Hotaru, Shindo, and Miyuki watched all of this happen quietly; there was nothing they could do. The way Nari emptily stared at the sky, the way her body seemed to glow light blue, the way her aura pulsed out her true power capacity, and the way her figure remained lonely in the red field of corpses silenced them. But soon, this silence broke when the other team started to scream out in pain.

Nari took the time to stand up. Her eyes remained cold and lifeless. She took her dagger and she walked over the dead bodies without a single care. With a speed that did not match her usual pace, she stood in front of the other team. "I told you…" Their eyes flickered of fear towards her. "I told you that you can't handle it. But why… Why do you guys never listen to people's warnings...? Egotistic and undeserving of the champion title. You are the shame of us humans." She easily broke Jeff's barrier with one hand and grabbed Hiroshi's hair roughly. "How could I let the person who started this sleep…?" The empty gaze she sent the other team made them shake terribly. She quickly slapped him until he woke up.

"Wh-what…? Is the match over?" Hiroshi managed to groggily ask. Jeff wished he could pummel and kill Hiroshi himself at that very moment.

"Hotaru, Shindo, Miyuki." Nari caught their attention as they stared at her. "I will give you guys the honors of knocking them out. But first-" She threw Hiroshi into the air and socked him in the face, potentially cracking his cheekbone or jaw. He flew towards his teammates like a broken doll. "That's for making me relive it while I'm awake." Her eyes flickered of undisguised anger. " _Bastard._ "

The aura that she had emitted earlier abruptly sucked into her body as fast as a black hole. The magic circle that broke earlier suddenly reshaped itself, becoming a new magic circle that glowed underneath her. But even that soon disappeared, leaving behind the Nari that everyone knew - _the lazy average girl_.

Her three teammates decided to take this chance to defeat the other team easily with their magic bullets, allowing the dome to dissipate and the sunlight to finally enter the field. Nari basked in the light as she closed her eyes, letting herself be consumed by the warmth.

 _It was over and that's what mattered most to her._

The team finally looked at the audience once they heard the disbelief and excitement from their cries. With perfect timing, the announcer's voice echoed through the stadium. "TEAM 5 IS NO LONGER ABLE TO KEEP GOING! THE WINNER FOR THIS MATCH IS TEAM 8! CONGRATULATIONS FOR MAKING IT TO THE QUALIFICATIONS EVENT!" He continued. "AS EVERYONE KNOWS, THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE FINAL MATCH WILL TAKE PLACE THREE MONTHS LATER BECAUSE WE WILL BE HOLDING CELEBRATIONS OF THE CRUSADERS' VICTORY FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS!"

Immense exhaustion seeped into Nari's muscles. She recognized this familiar pain in her body - though it was more of a duller ache, compared to the last time she had it. "Level 2-" She cursed under her breath. "At least… Not level 3, this time…" She muttered to herself. In seconds, she blacked out without even realizing that she had fainted. Thankfully, Miyuki managed to catch her in his arms before she hit her head, sighing in relief that it was now over.

"Well…" Shindo muttered. "We have a lot to talk about."

Hotaru absentmindedly nodded in agreement, sighing to herself tiredly. There were many things that she wanted to ask Nari, but she knew that she would have to wait when her best friend woke up again. "Let's go back home already."

"Yeah…" Shindo patted her on the head as they all trudged back to their home after being treated by the medics - not feeling like winners, but instead, feeling like patients in every sense of the way.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A second update to make up for lost time!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"Shirafuji Hotaru, please tell us what happened during the battle." A stern male sat across from her in a small concrete room. She felt trapped with no way of escaping. Hotaru squirmed in her seat.

"Well, Jeff made a dust explosion happen with his magic. And then I was trapped by Aaron's chain. After that, Shindo and I tried to fight back against both Jeff and Aaron…" She replied with a subdued tone. "And then all of a sudden, this black dome trapped all of us inside. There was still a lot of dust clouds, so it was hard to see what was going on, but I heard Nari scream and…"

"And then?"

"And then demons started to appear. Corpses materialized all around us and the ground turned red. It smelled terrible like smoke and blood."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, we tried to defend against the demons and then soon, they were all purified. That's when we took the chance to defeat the other team with the magic bullets. After that, you guys should know. The black dome disappeared and we won the match."

"Are you sure that's all there is to it?" The man persistently questioned her. She glared at the man.

" _Yes_ , unless you're looking for some other answer that hasn't happened to us." She spat out - extremely tired of dealing with these people. All she wanted to do was to sleep, but instead of letting them sleep as the medics recommended, they pulled each of them into interrogation rooms. She was terribly angry since she wasn't allowed to be near Nari; not to mention, all of the bitterness that lingered inside of her when she found out that Nari was in a temporary coma. "Can I _go_ now? My fucking best friend is in a coma right now."

He narrowed his eyes at her, debating on whether she was telling the truth or not. His rigid posture and him tapping the table with his finger irritated her for once. " _Well?!_ " She usually was never this rude to a person, but at this point, the unresponsive behavior of the interrogator made her snap.

"Alright. We will be back again though, Shirafuji Hotaru." He sneered a little. "By then, you won't be able to hide the truth from me."

"If that's what you want to believe, then go ahead, you assholes!" She slammed her fist against the table as she stood up. "But if you try to hurt any of my _friends_ , I won't forgive you. Mark my word." She kicked the chair away from her and slammed the door open before leaving.

"She doesn't know what she's going against." The interrogator whispered; a ghost of an eerie smile lingered on his face. "What a fool."

* * *

Hotaru's eyes blurred from her tears. She looked severely exhausted; her hands covered her face. She sat by Nari's bed silently.

"Hotaru, get some sleep." Shindo squeezed her shoulder. She shook her head. "Do you think Nari will be happy to see you exhausting yourself like this?"

"It's been a week. The medics don't know what's wrong. They keep telling us that she's fine." She buried her head into her hands further; barely audible sniffles left her. "SHE'S NOT FINE. Or else why isn't she waking up?" Her voice came out muffled due to the hands covering her face.

"She used a lot of magic during the battle; she's probably just recovering from that." He glanced at Nari worriedly. Her skin had considerably paled as the days passed by. The beeping noise from the heart monitor was all that convinced him that she was still alive. The oxygen mask over her nose and lips did not help how sickly she looked.

From the corner of the room, Miyuki stayed silent. He never moved from the chair and instead, continued to observe his _not-so-average_ teammate. He had so many questions, but they remained unanswered. He knew that his questions would probably not be answered - even if she were to wake up, thanks to the magic oath she was under. While he told the rest of the team about the magic oath problem after they were interrogated by the higher authorities, he still wanted to know the truth.

' _What are you hiding, Nari? No-'_

' _What happened...?'_

' _What did they do to you-'_

His hand gripped the chair tightly. His eyes narrowed at her. He wasn't sure what to think. He wasn't sure what to do. And that pained him more than anything.

"Miyuki…?" Hotaru called out worriedly, after removing her hands from her face and wiping at her tears. She saw how his face darkened considerably. If looks could kill, whoever he was directing his glare at would be dead a thousand times. At the sound of her voice though, his eyes immediately returned back to normal.

"I wasn't glaring at you guys." He clarified.

"We know. Let's get some rest, everyone." Shindo pulled both Miyuki and Hotaru out of the room. "We can check on her after showering and eating some dinner." They all glanced back at Nari with different worries as the door slowly closed on them.

* * *

 _CRASH!_

The teacup shattered into pieces as the headmistress threw it against the wall. The secretary flinched. "Such _USELESS_ subordinates." She spat out. "They can't even get the proper and _USEFUL_ information from a bunch of kids." She slammed her hand against her table. "Do you think that I wanted to know what happened in the battle?"

"Of course not, headmistress." The secretary never lifted her head - terrified of the ex-crusader's temper. When the headmistress stood up from her seat, the secretary stiffened.

"Let's head to their place. I will get it out of her by force." The headmistress' eyes darkened. "I should have done this from the start. If it weren't for those pesky medics from before…"

* * *

"Astor- _sensei_!" Hotaru looked up at the healing teacher in surprise when he visited them. "Are you here to see Nari- _chan_?"

"You can call me Jason- _sensei_." He smiled gently at the younger student. "And yes, I'm here to visit her. Do you mind if I see her?"

"No problem. Come in. You're always welcome to visit." She smiled brightly at the only teacher who came by to check on his student.

"Thank you." He held the bouquet of flowers in his arms. "Let's brighten her room."

"I'll get the vase." Hotaru dashed off before directing him where Nari was with the vase in her arms. Once they entered her room and set up the flower vase on her desk, they heard the front door slam open. "Miyuki and Shindo weren't supposed to be back for another hour…?" Hotaru had a bad feeling in her chest. Before they had time to check out the noise, the door to Nari's room slammed open.

The headmistress entered with anger flaring in her eyes. She glared at the young student and the healing teacher. "Well, well, well… Are you here to get in my way again, Astor?" She snarled at Astor whose eyes darkened. The righteous image of the crusader started to crumble away in Hotaru's mind. "Do you think a child's presence will convince me to stop?"

"If you care about your reputation, then it should stop you." The healing teacher stepped in front of Hotaru and Nari protectively. He stood in defense position. "I suggest you to go calm down in your office before doing anything rash."

She sneered at him. "A mere medic. Do you think you can stop me? Unfortunately for you, this time, I won't let it go. After all, I'm the only one who can release her from her coma."

"What-" His eyes widened before anger flared in his own eyes. "Don't tell me that you-"

"Why shouldn't I?!" She roared. "Let her suffer from the consequences of breaking the oath-"

"BUT SHE NEVER TOLD ANYONE VERBALLY!" The healing teacher shouted; his fingers curled into fists. Hotaru stood closer to Nari, feeling a little scared.

"Do you think that I wouldn't cover every single situation?" The headmistress' smile twisted.

"LEXI ABBOT! YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR!" Astor slammed his fist against the wall. " _She's only a child_."

"A child. A child who has too many secrets." She snapped her fingers. A strong wave of magic slammed against both Astor and Hotaru. They flew to the wall painfully. Hotaru groaned from the dizziness while Astor winced in pain - even after using defense magic for both of them. It was at this moment that Miyuki and Shindo came back to the house. When they heard Hotaru's yelp, they dashed towards Nari's room without hesitating.

"Hotaru!" Shindo yelled out; they both examined the two on the floor.

Miyuki's eyes flashed of simmering anger towards Abbot who already pulled Nari's head up by her hair. "What do you think you're doing to our teammate?"

Ignoring him, she whispered, " _Si magia non sufficit, ut hoc meum. Si non, tunc sumo magicae est natura_." Gusts of wind surrounded the two as a bright light consumed Nari's body. The windows flung open and streams of magic started to pour into the room. Miyuki and Shindo defended the two on the ground with their magic, but even their magic was starting to slowly crumble under the immense pressure. Nari's body began to float as it absorbed all of the magic around her at a fast pace.

"Augh-" Miyuki narrowed his eyes at the scene unfolding before him, blocking the gust of wind and light from his eyes with his arm.

"Forcing her magic core and capacity to recover." The headmistress finally answered the water user's question; her eyes only focused on Nari. "I can't have her forever stay as a weakling. Perhaps, restoring her back to her normal capacity and strength will make her open her mouth." Abbot whispered to herself, not realizing that everyone could hear her.

" _Subitis Si ergo vos can utor magica amplius_." The familiar magic circle that they remembered from the battle reappeared underneath her floating body as it arranged itself in a new pattern once again. The moment the circle dissipated, her body landed on the bed in a slump. "Now she can access her magic better during emergencies."

* * *

"Nn…" Nari tiredly opened her eyes, seeing the person who she hated the most. The headmistress gazed at her dispassionately and pulled her up, so that they could have their _talk_ to her advantage.

"This time… You're going to talk." The woman's frown lines deepened and she snarled at the weakened ice user.

" _What. Happened. There." The younger headmistress pulled at the younger Nari's clothes roughly. The medics began to panic as they tried to keep her away from the traumatized child._

" _She just woke up! Please don't do this here!" One of them yelled out; it was the healing teacher. "You have to keep in mind of her mental state! What do you think you're doing?!"_

" _I don't care! I need to know-" Her eyes flickered of obsessive insanity. "You need to tell me. You MUST tell me. What happened at the town…? Why are you the only one alive?!"_

 _Nari stared at the headmistress dispassionately. Her eyes looked hollowly empty. "..." She watched the hysterical woman go crazier on her while she kept quiet._

" _I'M TELLING YOU TO STOP!" The medics pulled her away and threw her harshly out of the room. "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THIS ROOM UNTIL SHE HAS RECOVERED!" The door slammed in her face. Storm brewed in her calculative eyes._

"What happened at the stadium?" She scowled and pulled at Nari's hair harshly. "TELL ME!" She roared. The same intense insanity from back then swirled in her eyes. From the corner of eyes, Nari vaguely saw four people trapped in some kind of barrier. Their cries were subdued and she couldn't tell who they were or what they were saying.

 _This time, she had no one to protect her._

Nari stared at the frazzled headmistress emptily. Her mind immediately shut down. "WELL?! Tell me." Abbot's voice turned softer. "I gave you back your original capacity. And I allowed you to be able to access your magic better during emergencies. If it wasn't for me, you would be in a coma for one month, thanks to you breaking the oath."

" _So you must promise me." A deep mellow voice rang in her ears as she watched the tall dark long-haired male getting on one knee to look at her in the eye. He held out his hand patiently._

" _If I do…" She hesitantly reached out. "All will be well…?"_

 _He paused before letting out a small sigh. His long fingers lifted her chin up as she stared into the dark pools on his face. "Not all will be well because that is life. With that woman there, it will be harder for you, but…"_

 _The nauseating smell of blood quickly suffocated her. The ground below was charred violently from the extinguished flames. Her hands grabbed at the dirt. A hollow emptiness lingered inside of her. She interrupted him with a small voice, "My sin was being unable to protect them." Her throat felt parched. And yet, the only thing she could think of as she spoke was how beautiful his eyes were._

 _He solemnly answered with his soothing voice that seemed to echo around her. "And that is the price that you pay… No, have paid. The consequence will be much more severe if-"_

"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" Nari snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a stinging pain on her cheeks. It was so sudden that she did not process what had occurred until a little after. The headmistress had slapped her hard when she was being despondent. "TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE HIDING, YOU LITTLE COCKROACH!"

This was when Nari's eyes flared of life and resolve. Her memories of the promise she had made to _that person_ swirled inside of her mind. "I. REFUSE." She snarled. Abbot threw her off the bed as she landed roughly on the ground. She heavily wheezed and coughed.

"Even though your grandparents died like that, you still refuse to tell me what happened to my past comrades." The headmistress coldly gazed at Nari. "You're a heartless child who doesn't care about her family's death - even though they raised you - someone who doesn't have the same blood as them." This made Nari's fists tighten. "At this rate, your grandparents will never be avenged and they were thanked in such a dishonorable way by their precious family member." She snorted in displeasure.

Nari's magic burst out from her as if expressing her anger. She bit her bottom lip, glaring at the woman before her. "Heartless…? Doesn't care…? Never avenged…? Dishonorable…?" Nari laughed painfully; she could not stop the tears coming out. The mistreatment, the injustice, and the suffocating feeling of being imprisoned drowned her. "The one who is truly dishonorable and heartless is _you_ -"

 _Throkk!_

Nari gasped for air as she slammed against the barrier that the four people were trapped in. The headmistress' rigid face haunted her when she flicked a magic bullet towards her. Nari's defense was too slow, considering that she was still recovering from the exhaustion. From behind her, she could hear the cracks of the barrier.

"If you don't want to be labeled as a traitor, you would be wise to tell me what I need to know." Abbot's eyes narrowed at her. "Don't be a fool."

"You will never get it out of me - even if I were to die right here and right now." Nari whispered out. "As I said before, you're the one who is really heartless."

The headmistress snapped, "Then YOU are a FOOL - _just like your grandparents_."

She shook her head as if pitying the person in front of her. "Then I'd rather stay as the fool." Nari steadied her gaze on the old woman. "At least, this fool intends to follow her own values - just like her grandparents did." She bravely smiled. "I refuse to bend my will for someone else." The moment she said that, the barrier behind her shattered. She felt a wave of familiar water magic surround her protectively.

"I suggest you to leave, headmistress." Miyuki's voice hardened. "While we might be weaker than you, our mouths and lives are worth more trouble than you'd like." Shindo, Hotaru, and Astor backed him up.

Abbot grimaced, recognizing the truth in his words. "Your families can only do so much to me." She muttered bitterly. "While I'll stop for today…" She glared at Nari. "It won't be the last." With those last ominous words, she left them with her secretary scampering behind.

The moment Nari could no longer sense the headmistress, she slumped down onto the ground in pain. Miyuki turned around and gathered her in his arms. "..." He didn't know what to say. Astor sat down and gathered his hands above her. His healing magic poured into her, fixing the injuries that Abbot made.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you." The teacher's regret lingered in his voice.

Nari shook her head. "You can't always protect me." She murmured, unconsciously tightening her hold on Miyuki's shirt. "It was bound to happen anyways."

It was at this moment that the very last of the three's hopes and image of the righteous crusader that their headmistress was supposed to be crumbled into ashes.

 _They vowed to never let someone like her touch their teammate ever again._

* * *

It had been a day since Nari woke up from her coma. Miyuki was going to check up on her briefly in the middle of the night after his disturbing dream of the headmistress trying to kill her. He just had to make sure that she was fine. ' _It's not like I'm going to do anything else to her..._ '

The moment he entered her room silently and closed the door behind him, he took a few steps towards her when he noticed the way she sweated and groaned in her sleep. Tears slid down her cheeks. Before he could reach her bed, she let out a piercing cry and shot up from the bed. She breathed heavily. Her arms trembled as she stared down at her hands - _almost lifelessly._ Minutes passed by but she still didn't go back to sleep. It felt like a private moment that he was intruding on. Somehow, this reminded him of the first time that he saw her cry.

 _Miyuki strode across the hallways - on his way back to the male dorms. "I'm sorry-" He paused in his walk. The voice was too quiet, but he definitely heard it - tearstained and heavy. "Please forgive me-" There was something about that voice that compelled him to look - to just make sure that they weren't going to kill themselves. He sighed._

" _If someone dies on campus, that's going to interrupt our studies." He reasoned with himself as he quietly went towards the source of the silent sobs. He stopped the moment he saw a familiar figure - it was the new student. She held her arm for some reason, which was when he saw a bright red pelt on it. Her magic slowly entered the injury, healing every cell and every nerve in that general area. She gathered her knees together and leaned against the wall of the building on the ground. She breathed heavily and bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out loud. Her eyebrows furrowed; tears rolled down her cheeks. She sniffled once in a while, covering her mouth to interrupt the sounds of her cries. When he looked a little closer, anger, frustration, hatred, and bitterness swirled in her eyes, surprising him. She glared at the ground as if she was ready to release her magic to attack something, but she quickly deflated and covered her face with her hand for a moment instead._

" _...won't let them." She muttered to herself. "The future…" She stood up on her feet again. Her expression turned solemn. She looked at her hand. "...I will win." Determination flared in her eyes. He silently walked back to the hallways; he reasoned with himself that since she definitely wasn't ready to die anytime soon, there was no point in being nosy and trying to eavesdrop on her. He wasn't interested in knowing more anyways._

The sound of her soft voice singing a lullaby soothed his soul. " _Hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Daemones sunt hic. Et ego adsum. Itaque tu non solum. Daemones relinquo. Ego sum usque huc. Sic hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Tu non solum. Ego adsum._ " He watched her lean against the wall helplessly as her tears silently dropped one by one on top of the blanket. The trembling began to cease.

Before, he just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't kill herself, but now, after getting to know her better, he wanted to protect her from the people who wanted to hurt her and to see her smiling happily at him. He slowly left the room with various thoughts in his mind, but there was one in particular that stood out the most.

' _She is mine to protect._ '

* * *

 _Clackety-clack. Clackety-clack._

The train that Nari was on whirred. She leaned against the cold glass window silently, closing her eyes to get some sleep. After all, it was the beginning of a slow week-long break from school. Opening her eyes again, she wondered what her teammates were doing; they were probably at home by now - surrounded by warmth and by the living. She took a sip of her herbal tea before looking out at the green scenery.

Despite what Nari believed though, the healing teacher sat with the rest of team 8 in a different compartment in the train. "So you're saying that a bunch of demons raided the town she lived in…" Miyuki confirmed.

"Yes. After she took and passed the exams required to graduate since she was homeschooled, she was on her way back to the town when the attack happened." Astor leaned against his seat.

"Then Nari- _chan_ graduated already…?" Hotaru looked at him in confusion. "But why is she at school?"

"Think about it. The headmistress desperately wants to know something that only Reyes- _kun_ possibly knows about." The healing teacher paused when he noted that Hotaru seemed perplexed. "What's wrong, Shirafuji- _kun_?"

"Um… I just remembered that Nari- _chan_ 's surname is Reyes." She laughed sheepishly to herself.

Shindo sighed a little, ruffling her hair, before returning his focus on the teacher. "So Nari's basically a prisoner."

"Yes. Once she arrived at the town, it was already too late. Everyone had died, but her. The demons continued to destroy the remainings of the place. It was then when Nari purified all of the demons in her vicinity, including those at the far end of the town, by forcing herself to go beyond level 2 and into level 3." The teacher paused, making sure that everyone understood his words. "After that, she fell unconscious and the backup team found her in the middle of the piles of corpses."

Miyuki's eyes darkened at his own realization. "Then she must have lost a couple of years of her lifespan."

Astor sighed a little before nodding. "But once she turns eighteen, we can perform a magic neurosurgery on her, so that she could recover completely and regain the number of years she lost from this overexertion."

"That's good." Hotaru leaned against Shindo a little.

"..." The healing teacher looked a bit conflicted on whether to share this next bit of information, but he decided to tell them. "I want you guys to know something about her grandparents."

Before he could continue, Miyuki interrupted. "Is it about Nari being related to the two crusaders?" The teacher's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes. She was adopted by Dietrich Reyes and Ting-Mei Reyes née Li when she was very young. By then, the two crusaders were pretty old, considering that they were the oldest out of the four crusaders; it's also why they made her call them her grandparents. And because they got married pretty late, they decided to never have children of their own."

"Dietrich Reyes was the master swordsman with one of the best combat magic skills, while Ting-Mei Reyes was the best at healing and support magic." Shindo's eyes narrowed. "How could they die that easily from a bunch of demons? That makes no sense."

"Exactly why it's suspicious… Not to mention, the timing of the headmistress' arrival." Astor murmured under his breath.

" _We are about to arrive at the upcoming location. Please gather your belongings and prepare to leave the train._ " The voice from the intercom echoed throughout the train. They stood up and watched as Nari pulled her small backpack from the storage area of the seat.

* * *

Nari checked in at the front desk of the hotel before walking to her room. It was a comfortable sized hotel that didn't seem as big as the expensive kinds or as small as the cheap hostels. Sweat seemed to trickle down her face, showing how much she struggled to walk long distances after the end of the second match.

She took off her backpack, letting it slide down onto the floor. When she was about to pick it up, one of the employees suddenly bumped into her as they carried a bunch of boxes that blocked their line of sight. "Augh-" She put her hands out in front of her to stop herself from bumping her head against the desk. Her eyes instinctively shut tight, waiting for the harsh impact. That was when she felt someone's strong arm wrap around her waist as they pulled her up against them. The familiar feeling of magic surrounded them, leaving behind the sounds of boxes falling to be soft and nonexistent.

"It's a good thing that we decided to follow you." Miyuki's voice rumbled. She shivered a little. "To think that you couldn't defend yourself from a bunch of boxes falling. We'll definitely need to train together again - this time with a harder regimen." His teasing lingered in her ears. Her small hands touched his firm arm as if in disbelief that he was there. Her ears flushed red. She held in her breath when she stood properly and slowly turned around. But instead of seeing him properly face-to-face, he leaned forward and grabbed her bag from the ground. When she did lock eyes with him, his grin reassured her that he was not going to treat her differently. She couldn't help but look down at the floor - unsure as to how to respond. "What's wrong?"

"..." She hesitantly looked up at him again. This time, he flicked her forehead with his fingers. She gaped at him as she held her forehead. Annoyance flashed in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" She snapped at him. "Aren't you supposed to be at your house?"

He looked away and scratched the back of his head. "Well, we decided that we should at least send someone to check up on you up-close and since my old man doesn't care where I go as long as I leave him a note, I decided to volunteer." He then held the back of her head with his fingers intertwining with her hair gently.

For some reason, his current behavior bothered her a lot. Irritation bubbled up inside of her. She smacked his hand away and took a step away from him. Her eyes hardened coldly. "Don't touch me like that. I'm not a little girl."

In seconds, he pulled her by the wrist towards him. She bumped into him, glaring up at him defiantly. His gaze pierced her. She froze. She couldn't understand what was wrong with her. "Who said that I was treating you like a little girl…" His voice was soft but firm. "Does this bother you…? Or is something else scaring you?"

"I…" Her hand reached out to grab the end of his shirt. Before she took a hold of his shirt, she stopped. There was something in his eyes that instinctively terrified her. She took a step back. "I…" She breathed heavily. It was only his hold on her wrist that stopped her from running away from him. He waited patiently. She seemed to calm down. She then took a step forward and looked up at him. "I'm not scared. I'm just worried that you'll treat me like a normal... _friend_. Like a sister figure. Or even a little girl." She seemed confused over her choice of words when answering him.

He smiled knowingly. "Well that won't be an issue." He let go of her wrist and headed to her assigned room. "C'mon. We need to get some rest before going out tomorrow."

Her eyes widened before she glared at him. "You are NOT staying in my room."

Miyuki laughed aloud. "Who said that I was?"

She paused and then sighed in relief. "Good."

* * *

"Hurry up, Miyuki." Nari pulled at his arm. He yawned, following after her. "We need to get there before the sunrise."

"Why are we leaving so early?" He soon walked side-by-side with her.

She stopped briefly, sinking into her thoughts. "I wanted to see the view. When I was younger, I used to try to go to my secret spot to see the view during my breaks. It looks best when the sun is about to rise."

Miyuki grabbed her hand; startled, she stared at him in confusion. "Then let's hurry up and go." Without warning, they began dashing towards the deserted town.

" _MIYUKIIIIIIIII-!_ " Nari screamed as she did her best to keep up with his speed. Before she knew it, he flung her over his shoulder; she felt sick to her stomach. In a way, she was extremely thankful that she ate no breakfast.

By the time it was almost sunrise, they arrived at the town. Nari dizzily latched onto Miyuki for support. "I hate you." She muttered.

He only smirked. "And you want to either kill me or pummel me one day." His laughter grinded on her nerves. "I'm still waiting for that day, you know."

She harrumphed in annoyance and soon led him down to a hidden path. As they walked in silence, they reached a small clearing. From afar, the mountains were at a long distance away and the forest below them was covered by soft white mist.

Nari sat down against the tree as she looked out from the cliff. "So this is the view that you were talking about earlier, Nari?" He crossed his arms and leaned against the tree that she had her back against.

" _Un_." She pulled at the green grass, enjoying the sun rising slowly from behind the mountains. The light flickered across the white mist, revealing specks of light green. The dews shimmered of warm pastel colors as the mountains became dark grey. The sky showed hints of glimmering orange, purple, and pink with speckles of soft blue hiding behind all of the colors.

He finally sat down next to her. "Breakfast?" He suggested. She nodded and pulled out the food from her bag. As the sun rose a bit more, they both savored their simple breakfast of bread and milk slowly without any signs of speeding up.

By the time they made it back to the town again, the sun was up and alive. It was early afternoon as she observed the charred grounds and the desolate buildings. There were no more signs of blood and corpses all around. "They really cleaned everything up." She whispered to herself.

Miyuki watched her carefully before asking, "Would you have preferred if they didn't…? To give yourself a reminder of the past?"

"...No. I'm grateful that they cleaned it all up. I just hope they gave everyone proper graves." She shrugged and stalked off, going up to every building and remembering the memories she held there. Miyuki followed her silently.

When she reached the last house, she stared at the rubbles with a hardened gaze. Unlike with the other houses, she actually stepped into the rubble, prying each concrete piece with her magic and creating an open space that should have been the living room. Standing in the middle, she stared at the ground and at her surroundings. ' _Gramps. Grams. I'm back._ '

Her fingers traced the rubble carefully. ' _A lot has happened since you both were killed._ '

She saw from the corner of her eye how Miyuki turned away from her, giving her some space and privacy. She turned back to face the rubbles again. ' _You know… I wasn't okay. I wasn't okay for a long time._ '

She remembered the way Shindo and the other classmates looked down on her for being average. ' _I hated the way people acted so childish about things that didn't matter when there were worst things to be worried about. It was just so annoying as to how ignorant they were of the world and of the people around them. And I hated anyone who associated with them. But at the same time, I was jealous. I was jealous that they could act like that. Their worries and thoughts never had to be restrained or overwhelming. I was angry that they could share them with others, but I couldn't. It made me want to just die and fade away in the background if it'll free me from everything.'_

She shut her eyes, breathing in and out quietly. ' _I treated them like the enemy. Even after I found my best friend again, this distrust that I had in people infected me like a virus. But what was I to do? People can tell me to get over it, but that's easier said than done. Anyone who says otherwise are foolish._ ' She found a smooth rock and picked it up. ' _They don't have therapists here. Instead, they forced me into a magic oath that I did not agree with. They trapped me in the school as if it was a prison. I was bitter and angry. I didn't want to do anything. I just didn't care enough._ '

The bitterness that pooled into her eyes faded. ' _But then the competition happened. I had to suddenly live with the people I didn't like. My friend… Even though I knew how much she liked Shindo from the beginning, I put her in an awkward spot. My anger and hatred had almost destroyed her chance at happiness. I was such an idiot - a blind fool. I only cared about my own sufferings and griefs. I hated how I was. So when the only one who really knew me asked me to be vulnerable with them. I didn't want to disappoint her - like how I disappointed everyone here, so I did my best.'_

' _I forced myself to be comfortable around them. I even trained with Miyuki. Ah-_ ' She almost laughed when she glanced at Miyuki for a moment. ' _Miyuki is a super spartan, but his training and help were well worth it. I started to feel alive again. He almost gave me a purpose to live a little bit longer with the goals he set for my regimen. Then the first battle happened and I felt like I regained a little bit of the old me - the one who wasn't as bitter and angry. The feeling was great.'_

' _He's arrogant, cheeky, and tries to get under my skin. Always laughing and enjoying my reactions to his words. But he's serious and forthright when the situation calls for it. I know that I can trust him to be strict and clear with me. His determination to win even reminds me of what it feels like to be truly alive. When I'm stressed or overwhelmed, he's like a rock; he keeps me steady and balanced. A bit awkward and reserved when it comes to feelings… But I'm comfortable with that._ ' She looked at his back with a small smile. ' _He became my closest friend - the person I can trust - after Hotaru-chan._ '

' _As for Shindo, I recognized his efforts in trying to maintain a comfortable teammate relationship between us. It helps that he's a very good leader... I know for sure that I can trust his judgement in most things. And well, there's no point in ignoring someone else's hard work. That would be stupid of me, especially since I actually do want to win the competition and prove everyone wrong. So yeah, gramps and grams... I somehow ended up becoming their friend and comrade. But… Do you think my efforts were truly worth it?_ ' Worry pooled into her eyes.

' _While they do accept me now and they still treated me as normal - even after that mess in the second battle… It doesn't mean that they can handle… I just need to know. Was it really worth it?_ ' Her grip on the rock tightened. ' _My fate. My future. Is it worth tying them all to me - without giving them a proper choice? If only things were more simple… If only I understood everything that happened in the past and is going to happen in the future… Would I be better prepared then?_ '

' _There are just too many things that I don't know the answers to. The crusaders… The demon king… This so-called war… I want to know… I need to know the truth. The truth-_ ' She painfully smiled to herself as if hating this side of her. ' _Seriously… My curiosity will be the death of me one day, but for now, would it be okay to make it my reason to live? Or is there something else worth living for..._ '

"Miyuki." Nari suddenly called out.

"Yeah?" He casually sat on top of some rubble.

"I don't know what I want to do in the future." Nari simply stated. She leaned back against one of the broken walls, watching the sky above her. The clouds were clear and fluffy - just as she had remembered it to be like.

"Then take the time to figure that out from now on." He answered seriously. She vaguely smiled at him before nodding in agreement.

"That would be a good goal to have since I'm forced to attend school anyways. Maybe I should also figure out what makes me happy." She closed her eyes tiredly. "Maybe then... I'll know who I am again and what I'm living for."

" _Aa…_ " His strong voice strangely comforted her.

Nari smiled wryly to herself. "And to think that I thought that I was going to start crying and release everything that was inside of me if I ever came back to this place again. I guess I did that too many times in my dreams and during that battle." She gave a short laugh. "Seems almost anticlimactic or even...empty."

"Crying won't do anything for you. It's better to solve the problems first before succumbing to your emotions." Miyuki commented - almost as though it was an afterthought.

She held a small rock, throwing it up and down in the palm of her hand casually. "You're right. That's why I was going to wait until everything was over before coming here..." She then stood up and turned around to face the dark woods. She quickly threw the rock outside and into the forest. "But I felt like the time was right to visit this place - _to bring everything to an end and to put the past behind me - once and for all_."

"Your problems were solved?" Curiosity lingered in his voice.

She turned around. The resolve and acceptance of what is to come flared in her expression. "It was the start."

"What do you mean?" His focus was on her - not willing to miss anything she said next.

"...Well I met you guys, didn't I?" His eyes widened in surprise and she gave an embarrassed and helpless smile after admitting that to him.

He finally grinned in response because he knew then that...

 _She would be alright from now on._

* * *

"Miyuki, I thought that it was just you…" Nari gave a hard stare at Miyuki who shrugged. He threw her backpack over his shoulder.

"One person to keep you company." He leaned against the wall of the hotel.

Hotaru interjected with a sheepish smile. "We decided to wait for you from afar…"

"Right…" Nari looked at everyone incredulously.

Astor walked up to her, examining her condition with his magic before nodding in satisfaction. "You're clear. You can train whenever you want to now." Once he patted her shoulder, he began to head towards the exit of the hotel. "Seeing how you're okay now, I'll be going back to the school. I'll see you again once break is over."

Nari bowed to him respectfully. "Yes sir. Have a good break."

"Now then…" Shindo cut through the silence that was about to take over the group. "What should we do now?"

"You guys can go home now-" Nari suggested without a blink of an eye.

"NO!" Hotaru interrupted. She pouted, pulling at Nari's arm. "You guys should come over to my place!" Her bright smile made everyone hold a deadpan expression. "Oh c'mon! It'll be fun! The town that I live in has the best festival and-"

"I guess I'll send a message to my family." Shindo stalked off to the receptionist, so that he could get a piece of paper and a pen to write on. Once he came back with his written note, he whistled with his hand, magic flowing from the sound like a big bubble. When the bubble transformed into a small eagle, he handed the note to the clear but colorful bird. The bird immediately ate the note and flew off to send the message to his family.

Miyuki soon followed after by whistling with his hand, creating his own eagle. He whispered his message to the eagle and let it fly off as well.

"But what about your family? Wouldn't they be burdened by our sudden intrudance?" Nari softly asked Hotaru.

Hotaru laughed heartily with a big grin. "It's okay. They asked me to make you guys come over to my place during the break. I already told them that you guys would come - and that I would make sure of that - no matter what, so they would be prepared for it."

Nari's eye twitched. "Why am I not surprised."

"Well then…" Hotaru grabbed Shindo's and Nari's arms. Miyuki's arm wrapped around Nari's shoulder, not letting her escape from the team. "LET'S GO!"

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another update!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"So… You three are Hotaru's teammates." A tanned woman with flaming curls falling over her shoulders stood, leaning against the door frame in a lackadaisical manner. Despite her aloof disposition, her ashy grey eyes, which she assessed the trio with, held a sharp intensity.

"Yeah, they're not only my teammates but also my CLOSEST friends ever!" Hotaru joined hands with Nari and jumped up a little on her toes.

After a short moment of silence, the woman closed her eyes before opening them back up with a slight tender welcomeness. "Welcome. Make yourselves at home," she said, smiling lightly all the while.

The little tension that accumulated in their bones escaped them in that moment; there was something intimidating about her that commanded respect from them.

Hotaru obliviously grinned up at her, swinging her hand with Nari's. Nari only sighed in response.

Smiling wryly, Shindo ruffled up Hotaru's hair.

"Hey - _what_!" Hotaru brought both of her hands up to her head, looking up at him with an indiginated blush.

"Nothing," he whispered with his secretive smile.

This did not go unnoticed by the woman who raised an amused eyebrow at this.

"Suraaj! Don't frighten Hotaru- _chan_ 's friends!" A male in an apron with tousled black hair came by, standing behind the woman; he attempted to glare at her with his large pale golden doe eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't intimidate the guests!"

Turning on her back, Suraaj advanced into the house, uncaringly waving away his concerns. "What is there to one simple stare? If they were of such weak will to be frightened of that, then I would question the legitimacy of the magic school which accepted them all."

Miyuki bit back his smile at that.

Grumbling, the man tore away his gaze from Suraaj and smiled at them sheepishly. "Anyways, come on in - all of you. Any friends of Hotaru- _chan_ are welcome."

Hotaru sniffed the air. "It smells like cookies. Did you bake, Kenji- _san_?!" She looked at him expectedly as she hopped up to him.

"Haha, yes." Tenderly looking at her, Kenji gently patted her head. "I just finished, actually."

Kenji once more directed his soft eyes at the three who entered the house. "Come on in. There are enough cookies for everyone."

* * *

"Hotaru- _chan_ , don't be so messy while eating." Nari sighed, already having eaten only one cookie out of politeness; she was not quite fond of sweets. Neither was Miyuki.

"I really missed your cookies, Kenji- _san_! And they're chocolate chip too…" Hotaru sobbed graticiously, munching on the cookies with a ravenous appetite.

"Ahaha, did you only miss my cookies, Hotaru- _chan_?" There was a soft teasing note in Kenji's voice as he then proceeded to chuckle.

"Noo! Of course not! You know that!" She pouted at him, calming down from her small outburst. She immediately took another cookie, ready to devour it.

"Slow down a little. Wouldn't want you choking for the _millionth_ time..." Shindo's voice was oddly jolly when he spoke, directing a close eyed smile at Hotaru while leaning onto his palm. He casually took the cookie from her hand.

"Hey!" An angry yell escaped her as she glared at him. "You don't just steal cookies from people, Yoh _-kun_! Not when there are like - heaps of them on the plate here!" She propped up her arms on the table.

He munched on the cookie. "But I was just saving you from choking yourself to death."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Yeah, _as if_! That's just your excuse to eat away at my mind! Isn't that what you're doing!? Eating my mind as you eat my cookie…"

Kenji observed their banter with an affectionate smile.

As Shindo reached for the cookies on the plate, Hotaru pulled the plate towards herself and stuck out her tongue.

"Hotaru- _chan_ ," Kenji called out her name disapprovingly. "You musn't hog all of the cookies to yourself."

Hotaru pouted under Kenji's stern eyes. "Whatever…"

"Yeah, it's not good to keep it all to yourself. Isn't sharing caring?" Miyuki grinned from his seat and flicked her on her forehead.

"Ow - _hey_!" She nursed her forehead and glared at Miyuki while pouting.

Nari, who sat next to Hotaru, pushed the plate back to Shindo.

"You guys!" Hotaru crossed her arms and sulked.

Nari shrugged and sighed once more, but with resignation, she shoved a cookie into Hotaru's mouth. "There's no need to sulk. After all, there are plenty of more cookies left - unless you're going to dig it out of Shindo's corpse, which… I do not recommend." And then she smirked at her best friend. "And aren't we going to eat soon? Why are you stuffing your mouth like a pig? Am I going to have to eat you later when you become fat during the apocalypse?" She then tapped on her chin with her finger as if thinking hard. "I suppose that wouldn't be too bad." She handed another cookie to Hotaru. "Here, have another one."

"I hate you." Hotaru sulked, but took the cookie from her anyways.

"Aww…" Nari cooed at her best friend. "I was only joking. I wouldn't resort to cannibalism anyways. But really, don't eat so many cookies. I don't want to hear you getting diabetes because you couldn't control your voracious appetite for sweets and junk food."

"...Again, I hate you." Nevertheless, she stuffed her face with another cookie. "As if I'm gonna get diabetes from a lil' cookies here and there… You meat jerky…"

"I do like beef jerky…" Nari muttered under her breath, making Miyuki chuckle.

"So," said Kenji, leaning against the table. "Which one of them is going to be my son-in-law?"

Immediately, Hotaru choked and coughed on the same cookie she was eating delightedly only a second ago.

Nari repeatedly pounded her best friend's back with her hand lightly as worry flickered in her eyes. A panicking Kenji passed the glass of milk over to her. Shindo attempted to tone down his twitching smirk while Miyuki casually sipped at his tea, observing with amusement.

"W-What?" There was a white mustache above her lips after her intense drinking of the milk.

"Is it him-" Kenji pointed at Miyuki. "Or-"

"NO WAY IS IT HIM! KAZU- _NII_ IS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME!" Hotaru sat up, flabbergasted with disgust written all over her face.

This time, it was Miyuki's turn to choke on his tea.

He wiped his mouth with a tissue. " _What_?" He stared at her incredulously.

"Uh..." Hotaru realized that up until now, she had never quite told him - that she called him by such an endearment in her head. "Well... I haven't really told you, but I consider you as my brother... So in my head, I always called you Kazu- _nii_..." She sheepishly smiled, swinging her feet. "So can I call you Kazu- _nii_?!" She reverted back to her excitable mood.

Miyuki stared at her for a moment, digesting her words.

With a smile, Nari slowly made Hotaru to sit back down in her seat while Shindo coughed in his hands, attempting to disguise his slight laughter.

Once more, Kenji observed the scene in front of him with serene lovingness.

"So, is it the shaggy haired one as I thought?" All of their heads flew to see Suraaj, who was languidly walking in from the kitchen with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in her hands.

At that, Hotaru stiffened in silence.

' _How obvious…'_ All of them couldn't help but think…

"Who knows!" Hotaru squeaked out. This time, she slowly munched on a cookie while glancing down with a blush.

"So it is him." Suraaj sipped the coffee as she pulled out the chair next to Kenji.

"Like I said, _who knows_!" Hotaru made eye contact with no one.

' _She didn't deny it…'_

* * *

"Meow, _madame…_ As a stripper, you must fulfill your duty!" Hotaru rubbed her non-existent beard as she thoughtfully glanced out the window.

"If you say so," Nari said, dramatically sighing. "I would've thought that my destiny was more along the lines of… _shounen_ or psychological mystery shit."

"Nonsense!" Hotaru's voice rose as she sent Nari a sharp look. "What could be a higher destiny - than to cosplay as a pineapple creep and to strip dance at a graveyard?! It is your utmost urgent and important duty to fulfill! Shirking upon it is the same as dooming the world to destruction." Seriousness shone in her eyes.

Nari crossed her arms and looked up in false thoughtfulness. "Hmm... Would I prefer traumatizing strangers with a strip tease at a graveyard? Or let the world be destroyed…?" She brought her eyes over to Hotaru with a smile and in an overly cheerful voice, she said, "I think I'll choose the latter!"

" _You impudent porn octopus!_ " Hotaru pointed at Nari accusingly. "You dare to downplay the martyr-ness of a destiny so honourable by leaving the world to rot?! Would it rather not be better to set up a pole and faithfully strip tease at the graveyards in order to stop this mayhem!?"

"To think that you were into such things... I should've known." Nari gave another dramatic sigh. "Don't worry." She grinned, patting Hotaru on the shoulder. "I still accept you."

" _I AM NOT INTO THIS - DAMMIT._ "

Shindo knocked before opening the door. "...We can hear you two in the room next door."

"What?! Do you two wish to join in on our pineapple strip tease orgy at the graveyard?!"

Feeling like he needed to teach a lesson to the over energetic girl, Shindo walked over to Hotaru and trapped her in between his arms when she scooted to the wall. "Would you prefer if I did?" He lifted his eyebrow.

"Maybe… If I allowed a person such as yourself to participate in such a sacred ritual!" Hotaru flushed red.

Nari sighed to herself, shaking her head at the two and their antics. She wondered if she should just leave and let them have the room to themselves. Maybe she should go hang out with Miyuki instead. That was a tempting thought to the ice user.

* * *

"The qualifications event is always the same every year." Shindo continued. "Once only one team remains, the exit to the maze will open. Of course, everyone will know if there is only one team left by the red fireworks in the sky."

Miyuki explained further. "Anything in the maze is allowed, except for killing other teams. The goal is to knock out all opponents and be the only one remaining at the end."

"When the winning team gets out of the maze, they are qualified to battle against the champions from last year's competition. If we win that, then we're this year's champions." Shindo leaned against his chair. "After the maze event, we have the next day off to recover and then the day after, we will start the final match."

"Then we should train hard to be well-rounded as much as possible since there is nothing we can really prepare for… We don't know what could happen in the maze and there are too many teams that are entering into this qualifications stage…" Nari fidgeted with her glass of water.

Hotaru stood up from her chair, looking at everyone as seriously as she could. "So let's start practicing as a team and focus on that, instead of our usual pair and individual training."

"She has a point. Let's get started." Shindo also stood up from his seat. He motioned to everyone to follow him. "C'mon."

* * *

" _Nyum_... I'm _sho_ tired after all that training, _meow_ ," Hotaru said as a yawn overtook her. She half-assedly dried her wet hair after showering and proceeded to set her towel on top of her chair.

Without even looking up from the combatants stats book he was reading, Miyuki commented, "I think you should work on your stamina a bit more then - _little sister._ "

Instead of shooting him a glare, Hotaru sighed as she sat down next to Nari, leaning her head against Nari's shoulder. Nari glared at her best friend. She didn't like getting wet. "You're right…" Hotaru's voice turned into a soft whisper.

"Miyuki, pass me the towel. Two of them. Preferably dry." Nari sighed, waiting for Miyuki to give it to her. When he did, she lifted Hotaru's head and put the towel in between, so that she wouldn't get wet any further. She would have dried her hair with a hair dryer, but since Hotaru cozied up next to her, she couldn't even do that. It reminded her of how a little child would behave when sleepy. "You know... If you want to sleep, then go to sleep on your bed. You're going to hurt my shoulder."

"But I don't wanna sleep yet," Hotaru murmured, despite the fact that her eyes were closed and her expression remained serene.

Nari rolled her eyes and sighed. "With your eyes closed like that, I doubt it."

Shindo leaned forward and gently nudged Hotaru on her forehead. "At least dry your hair first - unless you enjoy getting the cold that much."

Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips moved, but no sound came out of them.

At last, a calm silence descended upon the occupants of the room.

As Hotaru moved around, in an attempt to adjust herself into a more comfortable position, she nearly fell forward. " _Oh holy fuck_ -" Nari was very tempted to push Hotaru onto Shindo if it would get her best friend off of her; so she was actually very glad that her friend finally woke up from her sleepiness properly.

Sitting upright, Hotaru glanced at them with her eyes wider than usual. "Oh man, I feel high right now. Y'all, I'm tripping on sleep. What is happening?"

Miyuki closed his book with a sigh. "And there goes the nice quietness…"

Hotaru glared at Miyuki. "Yo, unless you want me to fart on you, you better shut yo damn mouth, mister."

' _There she goes again...'_ Shindo sent her an amused glance.

Nari let out a dramatic sigh. "Is that what you like to do…? Fart on your supposed brother…? I mean if that's what you like… Then I won't judge you or anything." She smirked.

This time, Hotaru missed the bait. "Hey! What do you mean by _supposed_ brother, _huh_!? You jerk!"

* * *

"You know… Despite all that happened to me… I don't regret being in this world." Nari murmured to her best friend as they laid down on the grass, gazing up at the night sky.

"Why is that? Although I can't disagree with that..."

The ice user put her hand up into the air, closing her eyes and feeling the gentle wind against her bare skin. She smiled. "The fresh air…" From beneath her, the soft grass enveloped around her. The rustling sounds of the leaves from the trees mixed with the sounds of the water trickling down a nearby stream. "The nature around us…" She opened her eyes, feeling herself fall into the vast night sky. Speckles of sparkling stars twinkled - some brighter than others. Her view almost convinced her mind that she was surrounded by the sky with nothing to hold her in place. "The stars across the sky-"

"We couldn't see them very well in the other world." Hotaru seemed to understand where she was going with this.

"Yes. Where can we see this over there? In the countryside, yes, but the chances of us living there for the long-term is very unlikely." Nari grasped at her chest with her hand. "Over here, I'm spoiled. I can see these kinds of stars whenever I want - even in the Capital. While I do think that magic is cool in the general sense, I'm mostly grateful that the world runs on magic most of the time - rather than technology." She let out a deep breath. "I guess the existence of demons help us preserve the nature - rather than encouraging pollution. So oddly enough, I'm thankful for them and for our magic that initially existed with the intention to purify them."

"Yes, our magic makes it easy for us to deal with our periods." Hotaru grinned.

"..." Nari raised an eyebrow at how random her best friend was. "Right." She couldn't deny it since magic made the suffering and messiness of it all into a super clean and simple process. "I suppose that is a serious benefit..."

"Of course! That's the most important!" Hotaru somehow flailed her arms - even as she laid down on the ground. Nari couldn't help but burst into laughter at her friend's antics.

* * *

For once, there was a rare silence in the room; everyone relaxed with their own activities.

"Guys… I was wondering," Hotaru said, breaking the quietness as she placed down her pencil and sketchbook.

"Oh no. She's _wondering_." Miyuki wryly grinned. Nari shot him an amused smile. He knew for sure that the ice user would get his humor _very well_ as they shared a knowing look to each other.

Hotaru's eyes twitched. " _I hate you._ Hmph. Unlike you, I can actually _philosophize_."

" _She calls that philosophy…_ " Miyuki rolled his eyes and opened his book again.

Nari sent her best friend an inquisitive look. "So what were you wondering about?"

Hotaru's expression turned unreadable. "Did you know that there's a faction in school that ships Kazu- _nii_ and Yoh _-kun_?" With that, she held up her sketchbook, showing her _wonderful_ rough sketch of the two mentioned holding hands.

Nari rubbed the temples of her head and sighed. "Please don't tell me that you're on that ship. It won't sail."

"Hey, you don't know what happens in the future - I rather think that ship has the _best_ possibility out of any of the school's potential couples."

Nari smirked. "I thought that you would prefer one of them to be straight though…"

"You mean Kazu- _nii_? For my second ship of you and him?" She blinked, _willfully_ missing the subtle hint underneath Nari's words.

"..." Nari rubbed in between her eyebrows. "Why would you even ship us? We're only teammates." She shrugged, not noticing Miyuki stiffening at her words. "It's not like he would see me in that way anyways."

"And you call me oblivious…" Hotaru muttered under her breath.

"What?" Nari glared at her best friend. "Don't shove nonexistent ships towards me." She huffed and opened her book with an irritated expression. Miyuki sighed a little as he began to forge a solid strategy in his head for the upcoming days. He knew that she didn't dislike him, considering that she didn't mention how she felt towards him and only talked about how he supposedly felt towards her, so that was always a good sign.

"Anyways, as I was saying," Hotaru said, pointing to her drawing in an attempt to push forward with her original agenda. "Kazu- _nii_ and Yoh- _kun_ \- WHO'S WITH ME ON THIS SHIP!?"

Miyuki sighed. The twitching smile on Shindo's face was full of promised threats as he spoke. "Yes, we know that there are some _very_ peculiar people - who can't help but be blinded by the idea of friendship - and immediately latch onto romantic relations and then go absolutely insane about it."

"It's best if you keep such _disgusting_ fantasies about us - _away from us_ \- unless you want your rank as my so-called younger sister to be stripped away from you." Miyuki finally smirked, "Of course, if that's what you want - _you know_...to have the same rank as an amoeba. Then I'll gladly make that change."

"Not fair!" Hotaru yelled, her eyebrow twitching at the two. Why did they suddenly jump to such a high defense?! "You guys never let me tease you…"

* * *

"Oh boy, rip me a new one because the amount of pooping I'm gonna have to do after this…" Hotaru headed towards _yet another_ food stall.

"Hotaru- _chan_ ," Nari called out, barely stopping the youngest of the four from wandering off _again_. And she thought that she was the one who always got lost from wandering around. "I think you're going to end up constipated - _again_."

Frowning, Hotaru stuck out her tongue at her. "I won't if I eat enough fiber!"

"You'll still get a stomach ache - and then you won't be able to eat anything you actually wanted to eat." Shindo smiled at her.

Hotaru's eyebrow twitched. They had a point… "Then… I'll limit what I want to eat," she said begrudgingly.

Her sulking stopped as soon as it started once Hotaru soaked in the festival fun. Immediately after, she ended up dragging her three teammates around the festival as well.

* * *

"Hotaru!" Shindo yelled after her, swiftly and fluidly making his way in the crowd to Hotaru; she continued walking as if she did not hear him.

Getting close enough to her, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Ah-" Her head quickly turned as she attempted to jerk her hand away - her expression bewildered and frightened. Seeing that it was him, however, she relaxed and blushed, softly gripping his hand back. "Yoh- _kun._ "

She slowed down, allowing him to gently pull her back to his side as they now slowly walked side by side.

Shindo looked behind him, his eye scanning the area. "I think we've lost Miyuki and Nari." He brought his other hand and ruffled up his already - _sexily_ \- messy hair.

"Oh…" Hotaru looked down guilty; they got separated because he had to chase her - the her who got way too smitten by the takoyaki stand. Her grip on his hand loosened.

Unexpectedly, Shindo smirked. "Well, this is for the better anyways."

Hotaru's head turned to look up at him. " _What_?"

"Maybe they'll finally confess after a little date," he said, expertly weaving through the crowd with her. "And…" He finally looked at her, the mischievous and daring look in his eyes stealing her breath for the millionth time. "We can go on a date of our own as well." He tightened the hold on her hand and she couldn't help but shyly return it.

Her lips trembled as she stared ahead. " _Meow_! The only way you can keep me as a date is to feed me constantly, you impudent man." Despite her words, her voice shook; she was trying hard to suppress her heartbeat and her increasing body heat.

Smirking, Shindo whispered into her ear, "And gain another pound? I never knew that you wanted to be a balloon." Then he dramatically took a step back with his hand on his chest. "-Ah, unless you want to be the chubby cat, then I guess it can't be helped." He finally shrugged and flicked her forehead playfully. Without giving her a chance to retort, he immediately said, "Let's go and check out that stand." With the swoosh of his hand, he motioned for her to follow him as she pouted.

With a light squeak, she attempted to hide in on herself while Shindo chuckled. "Since we're on a _date_ ," he teased. "Do you want to try that out?"

Looking at the stand he gestured at, it barely registered in her mind before she nodded.

* * *

"YEAH, SUCK ON THAT YOU PORNY OCTOPUS!" Hotaru raised a fist into the air, cheering, and most indefinitely gathering the attention of all those around them.

 _How - How_ it had turned out like that was of no matter.

It was all a matter of her shyly going up to stand that Shindo had pointed at, deciding to play the game there herself, and everything else was history.

"HELL YEAH!" She aimed the gun at the fox plushie again.

' _Whoever that random ass dude was, they were right.'_ Her smirk widening as her shot hit the target. ' _POWER DOES CORRUPT! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'_

The stand owner stood to the side, staring wide eyed at the absolutely _crazy_ girl who won prizes at his stand one by one with stunning accuracy. She was only getting _louder_ and _wilder_ each time. It was because she had practiced with magic bullets before, so a little shooting game at a stand was nothing to her.

"Alright, alright. That's enough." Slightly exasperated but mostly amused, Shindo put his hand over the gun. "You don't want to drive this stand to bankruptcy - now do you?"

She pouted at him.

"Don't get so drunk over your power, Hotaru." He lightly flicked her on her forehead. While Hotaru was nursing her forehead and cursing, he asked the almost sobbing old man to pack their prizes for them.

"Here you go. Hold onto your fox plushie." Shindo said, pushing the plushie to her.

"What? No, you take it!" She yelled back at him, pushing the plushie back in his arms.

Taking the plushie, he cocked an amused eyebrow at her. "Why should I take it? Didn't you get this stuffed fox for yourself? Do you want me to hold it for you? I didn't know you were so commanding, Hotaru. Is there a secret side to you that I should know about?"

Her face flushed. "What?! No! I got it cuz foxes remind me of you! It's a goddamn gift, you shitty ass jerk!"

He smiled knowingly but nevertheless accepted it. "You should've said so from the start," he teased.

She huffed and looked away from him, the tips of her ears burning a bright red. "Well, I thought you would've gotten it-" She felt something touching her lips, silencing her.

She took the candy apple he placed against her lips and stared at it.

"You did say I had to feed you to keep you on this date." Shindo smirked at her.

"You playboy," saying that, she nevertheless smiled as she enjoyed her candy apple.

Switching his hold on the fox plushie to his right arm, Shindo casually wrapped his left arm around Hotaru's shoulders. "I haven't dated in a while," he said.

Hotaru blinked, confused at the tone of his voice which suggested that there was more to his words. "Yeah, what about it…?"

He turned his head to stare down at her incredulously.

* * *

"Well we lost them…" Miyuki scratched the back of his head. An annoyed look appeared on his face. "Let's stick together, so that we won't get separated."

" _Nn_ …" Nari struggled to get through the hordes of people going past her. There were just too many people here for the festival. Why did she think it was a good idea to come out today? She will never know the reason. "Ah-" She was finally being pushed back by the crowd. Before she had the chance to grab Miyuki's arm, she was already being taken away by the outrageous flow of people. "Miyu-"

"...Nari?" He turned around when he realized that he couldn't hear her reply. He looked carefully at the crowd and then charged right in when he noted her magic presence inside. Using his magic barrier to make some space for himself, he found Nari on the floor. She winced as she stood up on her feet again, thanks to his help. "Stay close to me." Before she could respond, he made her wrap her arms around his. "Don't let go."

She started to panic a little, blabbering out any excuse to not hold his arm like this. "But people-"

"Let them think that we're dating." Miyuki interrupted. "As long as you don't get lost."

She sighed. "Fine." Once they reached an open space where less people walked around, she was about to let go of his arm when he held her hand tightly, putting their hands inside of his casual jacket pocket. "..." She bit her bottom lip, not knowing what to say. She stared at their clasped hands as her cheeks heated up. Her heart started to race and she became hyper-aware of everything around them. ' _Should I tell him? No. What if he thinks that I like him or something… But is this even normal? Do friends do this? Maybe I should pretend that I don't notice it. Yeah. Let's do that._ '

"Ah, that shop looks really nice!" Nari pointed at a random shop that had a nice exterior. "Let's check it out! Hopefully, it's cooler in there than out here."

"Okay." They went in as he opened the door first, waiting for Nari to go in as well. She hesitantly entered before gaping at all of the watches. "Good choice, Nari." Miyuki grinned and pulled her to the different types of watches available. She zoned out a little, due to her attention being elsewhere, but once he showed her a watch in front of her face, she blinked a little.

"What…?" A look of confusion flickered on her face. He laughed a bit.

"You weren't listening at all, were you?" He pulled out their clasped hands from his pocket and held her hand carefully. In seconds, she watched as he put the thin silver wristwatch on her wrist while still holding her hand. "You always get lost, so this watch will help you find your way back to the place that you want to go to. Just pour some magic into the watch and think of the place in your head and then the watch will show you where to go by connecting to your mind and eyes."

"Oh, it can also tell time…" Nari admired the beautifully simple and clean design of the watch. "I guess it makes sense that it would."

"Good. You like it. Then let's go." He grabbed her hand again and put them back in his jacket pocket.

Startled, she found herself speechless and blushing again. She really hated how she could not get a hold of herself. She even wondered if he noticed the way her hands were all clammy with her sweat and the way her voice turned quieter than before. "But wait, I didn't even buy-"

"I already bought it. It's for you, so wear it. We can't have you get lost again. And..." He stopped abruptly, making her crash into him lightly. A grin hung from his lips. "It's a reward for you. A reward for doing a great job in the competition so far."

She narrowed her eyes in disagreement. "But I didn't-"

"Hey look! A shooting game stand! Let's go play!" He dragged her without letting her say anything else. She sighed in acceptance.

When they made it to the stand, a tall jolly man glanced at the two and smiled brightly. "For the couple, I'll give you two a special prize - in addition to the one you manage to get during the game. Want to give it a try?" Miyuki grinned and gave him a silver coin.

"But we're not a…" She muttered under her breath. Her hand felt oddly cold after Miyuki let go of hers. He was ready to shoot down one of the stuffed animals. Her heart seemed to calm down and she relaxed in her posture.

"Which one do you want, Nari?" She gave up on even trying to convince everyone that they weren't a couple and pointed to the big black bear with glasses.

He chuckled under his breath. "So the one that has glasses, huh?"

"As expected of a couple!" The jolly man cried out.

She sighed. "Whatever. Just get me that one." She rubbed in between her eyebrows; a reluctant smile lingered on her lips. Her hands cooled down and she felt like herself again - calm about everything that was happening around her.

"Will do." He grabbed the rifle and aimed carefully. The moment he shot, the black bear flew backwards, indicating his win.

"And the boyfriend wins! Here is the prize!" The person at the stand handed over the fluffy black bear to Miyuki. He pushed the bear onto Nari. She accepted it with a small sigh. "And here's a special prize for the couple!" The jolly man handed over two hand-sized panda dolls - obviously, a couple set.

"...Why a panda." Nari murmured to herself, accepting the cute panda. For some reason, Miyuki gave her the male one. "Why are you giving me the male?"

He shrugged before replying, "So that it can remind you of me." There was a sly twinkle in his eyes. Her heart churned uncomfortably. She hugged the bear tightly in her arms, feeling like he was hinting at something. She buried her face in the bear's dark fur. She did not know what to do.

She finally asked, "...Why are you doing this to me?" Her eye twitched and she sighed once more, trying to hide the way her arms trembled a little and the way her throat turned parched.

Recognizing that he was making her close up again, he turned away from her and murmured, "...Because it's fun." At those words, relief, confusion, and underlying disappointment swirled in her eyes. When he noticed that, he couldn't help but feel that he wanted to corrupt her in every sense of the way, leaving his mark on her innocence and make her solely his without letting anyone else take her from him. He smiled wryly to himself and pushed away such thoughts immediately. Now was not the time to think about such things… Pulling her away from the stand by the hand again, he carried the huge black bear with one arm, while Nari put the panda pair in her bag. He then handed her the big black bear again. She carried it with one arm. "And you need more stuff in your room. While it's good to be minimalistic, you need at least a little bit of personality in your room."

"...Fine, but I still hate you." She muttered under her breath. She could not look at him in the eye; she felt that if she did, she would not be able to handle it. It was just too dangerous to her.

He chuckled and said, "I know."

His words, however, made her glance at him thoughtfully. She joined him in his laughter. "Well actually I don't really hate you." Her head felt light and free after laughing with him.

"I know that too."

Now that she was in such a good mood, she began to talk a lot more, revealing more than she wanted to. "In fact, I think that you're a rock- Wait. No. I mean, rain? Wait. No, that's not it either." She wanted to smack her face with her hand, but one hand was holding the bear and the other was being held by Miyuki. "Augh, what the heck am I saying…"

"I know and me too." He nonchalantly said to her. Her heart almost stopped at his words. She had to be hearing things. There was an unexpected warm expression on his face as he looked at her; his soft smile and gentle gaze caught her off guard.

She stared at him incredulously as if he said something strange. "What?" Once again, she knew that he was trying to get to something, but she still could not tell what it was that he wanted from her. There was one thing that she knew for sure. They were both strategists. Any loopholes or weaknesses in her words or answers - he would immediately notice and poke at them to see if he could get the response that he wanted. If she didn't focus and kept her head in the game of chess that they were implicitly playing against each other, she would lose badly and he would get what he wanted very easily. _She would not allow that._

He smirked and pulled her closer to him before she hit a crowd of people. "Nothing." She held her breath - startled at his action. Her heart jolted and she felt a bit lightheaded, grabbing onto his arm abruptly. The warm patience reflected in his brown eyes, his lax posture, the brown locks of his hair that tickled her face when he leaned forward, and the heat radiating from his firm body that touched hers… She wanted to die from embarrassment if that was possible. She tried to take a step back away from him, but another group of people shoved her towards him roughly. She almost slammed into him, tightly grabbing onto the back of his shirt to stop herself as they embraced. The sudden contact though made her stiffen up. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She really didn't know what to do. She couldn't remember if she was ever at such close distances with him before in an intimate manner - even if it was accidental.

She finally took a step back to breathe again and turned her head away from him. Looking at him would only make her act weird once more. "Let's go." She whispered quietly to him. He hummed in agreement.

Soon, they were about to pass a weaponry shop. The glint of a beautiful katana caught his eye. He paused and stared at it further. Nari could feel the pure magic that lingered inside of it - alive and radiant.

"It seems like you have a good eye, young man." A swordsmith came out to greet the two. "That one's called Honjo Masamune… Beauty, eh?"

"Yeah…" Miyuki whispered, wondering what it would feel like in his hands. "That is quite…"

"Would ya like it to try it out? Masamune's special in the sense that it chooses its owner. If it doesn't like ya, then it won't cut anything for ya, but if it likes ya, then it'll kill only when it's necessary." The swordsmith gave a loud laugh. "Most swords cut things up indiscriminately, but Masamune doesn't kill unnecessarily. It's got quite a benevolent nature. So if ya guys match, then ya are the keeper - the one who is meant to be with it."

"Let me try it out then." The moment Miyuki said that, the swordsmith took them to an open field with the katana before handing it to him.

He soon brought out a target practice while Miyuki gave a few practice swings with it. "Try it out on this one!"

Miyuki took an attack position - ready to slice the target. A warm pulse from the hilt of the katana affected him. He could feel the power and strength from the katana as it demanded him to submit to its will. Instead of forcing the sword to obey him, he used his magic to convince the katana that they were a team - _that they were one entity_. The moment he did that, the magic that lingered in the sword flared with his, bringing about a large power that consumed them. He slashed at the target in one clean movement; no movement was unnecessary. Instead, every movement had its purpose. The target broke into two and then shattered into small pieces.

"It seems like Masamune really likes ya." The swordsmith gaped in awe. "I've never seen it act like that!"

"How much is it?" Miyuki asked before feeling a bit down about the final price that was already heavily discounted for him. "I guess I'll have to buy it tomorrow. Do you mind saving it for me tomorrow? I'll bring more money to buy it."

"Sounds good, but if someone else who is worthy buys it at a higher price, I'll be giving it to them." The swordsmith gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright." He agreed reluctantly. While Miyuki seemed reluctant to part with the katana, Nari secretly asked the swordsmith to sell it to her right now, so that she could give it to him as a surprise gift. "Ey, boy. Gimme the katana back. Gotta take care of it again. Also the lady wants to see a few things, so step out for a moment. She'll be out in a sec."

"...Okay." Miyuki walked out of the store hesitantly before leaning against the wall of the store outside.

"Ey! A cute couple, ya two are. I'm sure he'll be very pleased with his gift! As a bonus, I'll put it in a storage stone for ya. That way, ya can take it out of the stone when it's time to gift it for him." He took the money from her and immediately put it in the stone for her. She stuffed it in her bag and thanked the old man. She only wished he wouldn't misunderstand about their relationship, but at this point, she decided that it wasn't worth it. They can misunderstand as much as they want.

"Thank you very much." She smiled brightly at the old man and left the store in a good mood.

"Well aren't you in a happy mood?" Miyuki's eyebrow raised.

"Yes, let's hurry up and go back!" Nari took the initiative to grab his hand and pulled him in the direction that the watch was telling her to go. He briefly looked at her in surprise, but soon began to feel pleased about her sudden change in mood instead.

* * *

"I still have nightmares about that," Miyuki said.

Hotaru stayed silent for a moment before theatrically declaring, "Surely, you mean propheticious dreams?!"

" _No._ No, I don't." Miyuki's eye twitched.

Willfully, Hotaru ignored his response. "Are you, by any chance, the pineapple stripper prophet?!"

"I think you're talking about yourself." Shindo interjected as he moved his piece.

"That cannot be - for I am the God of Pineapple Strippers!" Hotaru cried out dramatically.

Nari shook the dice in her hands and let it roll on the board. "If you're the God of Strippers, then how do you _NOT_ know who the prophet is?"

"The God of _PINEAPPLE_ Strippers," Hotaru corrected her sternly, wagging her finger. "And yes, I do know - that our dear Miyuki Kazuya is the prophet of this important mission; I was simply helping him realize that without outright saying it!"

"Why do you speak like that when you're talking about strippers? I will never understand…" Instead of shaking her head, Nari smirked when she moved her piece. Miyuki's eyebrow twitched; Nari just killed one of his central soldiers.

Hotaru glared at her. "It's _PINEAPPLE_ strippers, you ignorant curry excretion!"

"Uh huh, whatever you say." Nari ignored her best friend, fully absorbed in playing the game.

"Hey, all curry _excretes_ itself a delicious aroma." Shindo, the decidedly biggest fan of curry in the room, proclaimed.

Miyuki took the dice and shook it, hoping for a good number; immediately, a low string of curses left him. Nari smirked again. She was _SO_ going to win.

"You bulbous fool! I was referring to the excretion of humans after one has eaten such a spicy nourishment!" Hotaru huffed.

Nari pulled on Hotaru's cheek cheekily, making her best friend shriek. " _Please stop talking like that."_ She muttered under her breath.

* * *

Looking at Nari who was going up to the porch, Hotaru was about to call out to her when Shindo suddenly grabbed her hand.

Hotaru turned, looking at him questioningly - while trying to suppress her blush.

Shindo held up a single finger to his lips. "Let's give them some alone time, shall we?"

' _Oh, Kazu-nii was up there too.'_ Hotaru immediately nodded enthusiastically - all for the progress of Nari's and Miyuki's love!

"Oh man, it's so fun to play matchmaker," she said delightedly, taking her place next to Shindo on her own bed, cozily wrapping her arms around his. "I hope - I dearly hope they get together!" She nuzzled her face into Shindo's shoulder, giggling a little.

Shindo stiffened a little; he couldn't tell at times if she was shy with him or just inexplicably bold - and bloody oblivious, although he was sure of that part. _Did she not understand the effects such actions of hers have on him?!_

Before he could even say anything, she got up once more, returning to packing her things. "I'll just pack for now… And then bug her for all the details." Hotaru snickered evilly and Shindo watched her, feeling a twitch in his eyes.

As she moved across the room to get her sketchbook and shut the door, her bag tilted - about to fall; out of it, a single bookmark fell.

"Ah-" She hurriedly ran over, adjusting the bag again.

"That bookmark," Shindo murmured.

"Yeah," she said, picking the fox bookmark up. "I meant to give this to you a while ago, but I kept on forgetting." She sheepishly smiled at him with a blush, shakily rubbing the back of her neck.

He stared at her blankly and then at the beautiful reds, oranges and browns of the handmade bookmark she was handing to him.

"You shouldn't have closed the door," he whispered, smiling.

"What?"

The next moment, as if he were about to take the bookmark, he reached for her wrist and pulled her underneath him.

Hotaru yelped, surprised as she felt the soft surface of the bed underneath her; she still clutched onto the bookmark tightly.

"You shouldn't have closed the door, Hotaru," Shindo repeated, staring at her with a seductive smirk and midnight dark eyes, which twinkled in mischievousness.

Hotaru's pulse thundered wildly. Her body felt like it was on fire and confusion rang through her mind. "What…"

Taking the bookmark from her hand, he placed a delicate peck on it, all the while looking at her. Hotaru felt hot underneath his unwavering gaze. Her lips trembled and she bit on them.

Placing the bookmark beside her head, Shindo asked her, "Hotaru, what are we?"

"Uhh," she said, turning her head away from him and focusing on the wall on the other side of her head. "Friends…?"

"Then I think it's time we move onto a relationship," he said boldly. "I know that you like me - a lot. As do I…"

She felt herself flush harder. All of this felt so surreal to her - _was this even real_?

"What do you say?" His voice was low - almost seductive.

She felt compelled to look at him from his whispered words. "I…"

God, she felt like headbutting him - or maybe saying something incredibly stupid. Just, just anything.

But looking at him, she felt scared - _what if her joking around for the sake of her nerves right now ends up hurting him_?

"I like you _a lot_ ," she said, her voice shaking and her eyes tearing up - _God, this was too much for her._

He licked his lips.

Hotaru's breath hitched as he leaned down.

" _Can I?_ " She shivered as his whisper fanned her lips - _as his breath fanned her face_.

Closing her eyes and lips shut, Hotaru trembled.

Just as he was about to kiss her, she moved her head so that he kissed her check instead.

"I'm sorry, but this is too much for me!" She rolled onto her side, hugging herself and trembling.

Self-hatred filled her at once.

Oh, how could she, how could she. She surely had hurt him. _Oh God_ \- but she couldn't - _she just couldn't_. It was too much for her all at once. It wasn't that she didn't like it - far from it, but it just overwhelmed her.

"Hotaru?" She could hear the slight panic and concern in his voice and felt the movement on the bed as he adjusted himself into a sitting position.

As she shook harder, tears finally started pouring through her eyes. ' _No! No, stop!'_ She hid her face, hiding into herself even more. She felt pathetic - _no, she was pathetic_. How much she hated herself... She always ruined everything.

"Hotaru?" His voice sounded vulnerable, scared - scared that _he_ hurt _her_. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way," he said.

She shook her head; she didn't trust her voice right now.

"Hotaru, look at me. Please." His tone was pleading, but no - _she couldn't_ , she couldn't let him see her crying like this. She'll only hurt him more...

She shook her head again, this time harder.

"I…" He was at a loss on what to do. "I'll leave if that'll make you feel better."

' _NO!'_ If he left now…

"Don't," she sniffled, reaching for his sleeve just as he turned towards the door.

Shindo looked back, only seeing her lean on the edge of the bed with her elbow. Her head remained down, allowing her hair to shield her face, as her tears dropped onto the floor in torrents.

His heart squeezed in pain - _he_ did this to her. It was _his_ fault.

As if knowing what he was thinking, Hotaru shook her head once more. "I… I'm sorry. It, it wasn't as though I didn't like this - _it all felt so surreal to me_ \- but it was too much for me. I, I just felt really overwhelmed. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you. I feel really angry at myself right now. I'm sorry."

Hotaru stifled down her whimper, harshly biting down on her lip.

"No, I'm sorry." Shindo leaned down on his knees in order to be at eye level with her; she hid her face within the bedsheets and behind her arm. Slight disappointment flickered in his eyes; he didn't know what to do when she cried. He felt almost helpless. The fact that she wasn't even ready to let him see her cry made him indescribably uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for…making you uncomfortable. Even though I already knew how intensely you feel… I should have foreseen this."

She once again shook her head in response. "You have nothing to apologize for." Her voice came out muffled.

"I forgot how unused to this you are." He continued, "We can take this slow... I'll do my best to wait for you, so we can be friends for now...but...try not to take too long." A sad smile lingered on his lips. "Since there's only so much that I can take... Even if I promise to be exclusive to you for now..."

At last, she lightly nodded. However, what ended up leaving her lips was another apology. "I'm sorry… Also, can you get me a box of tissues, _please_?"

* * *

"What are you doing out here at the porch?" Nari walked up to Miyuki who was sipping on some tea. It reminded her of the nights before their matches.

"Thinking." He held up his cup. "Want some?"

"Sure." She sat down next to him. She took a cup from him and sipped on it. In her jacket pocket, she had the storage stone from before. "So did you manage to get that one katana?"

His eyes darkened. "No, someone _worthy_ appeared and already bought it by the time I went to go buy it." He sounded highly pissed off about it, despite his attempts at being nonchalant.

"Hm…" She looked up at the glowing white moon. "Do you know what the swordsmith told me before I left the store?"

"...What." From the sound of his voice, he didn't really want to listen but focused his attention on her nonetheless.

"He told me that the katana seemed to acknowledge you as its new owner and would probably never allow another to handle it." Before he could argue, she took out the storage stone, letting some of her magic wave over it. In seconds, the beautiful katana in its black scabbard appeared in her hands. "Because you gave me several gifts, I'm giving you this as a present - a thank you for training me and being patient with me."

He gaped at her before taking the katana from her. "That sly old man. He told me that the one who bought it was worthy. So that's what he meant." He muttered to himself. A pleased expression took over his face.

"Do you like it?" She felt happy about how he was reacting to her present. She cocked her head to the side playfully, wondering if he would get mad at her for keeping it a secret or thank her for getting it for him. He only stared at her thoughtfully as if contemplating on what to do next. When she noticed how his gaze turned resolute, she wondered what he was thinking about.

He placed the katana down behind him carefully before taking the teacup from her. She looked at him questioningly. He then moved the cups and teapot away from them. An odd feeling of anticipation fluttered in her stomach. ' _Why do I keep thinking that-_ ' He suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. It was the first time she hugged a male like this for a long period of time and in such an intimate manner. She could feel her heart squeeze and speed up. The heartbeats sounded loud to her. She wondered if he could hear it. Her cheeks flushed and his touch felt hot to her skin. She wasn't sure if she liked how this felt or not, but before she could think more about it, she found herself trembling a little. ' _Ah… How embarrassing. Stop shaking already!_ '

Once again, she was hyper aware of his every movement, the sound of his breathing, and the feeling of his body against hers. She finally swallowed and took a breath. It was then when she smelled a hint of musk from him. ' _Did I just…_ ' Mortified that she just sniffed him, she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Nari…" The sound of his voice softly whispering in her ear made her tremble again. He held her closer than before. It was at this moment that she shut her eyes tightly as she wondered to herself if she could just die already from this. Unable to answer, she hesitantly held the back of his shirt with her hands.

"I like you. What about you...?" To look at her in the eye and to hear an answer from her, he was about to pull away when he found that she started to tighten her hold on him instead. She bit her bottom lip again, not letting him see her face. She wouldn't be able to bear with it, so she ended up letting out a small noise of protest. This somehow made Miyuki chuckle under his breath in amusement.

"In three seconds, if you pull away, I'll take it as you saying that you don't like me. And if you don't pull away, then I'll take it as you saying that you feel the same way as me." Her mind whirred like crazy, but for some reason, she couldn't find it in her to pull away from him. Her arms trembled; she had trouble breathing again.

' _I'm crazy - that's what. I'm insane. That sounds about right. But..._ ' She decided to admit it to herself that she must have liked him for quite a while. She only wanted to deny it because getting rejected would only hurt and it would ultimately get in the way of their teamwork. ' _What terrible timing to figure that out right now, Nari. I'm so stupid. Now I don't know how to look at him properly and-_ ' He was down to the last second. ' _What?! Only one second and now-_ ' She wanted to bash her head against the wall. It was finally over. She only had three seconds to figure out what the heck she was supposed to do and she used it up to admit to herself that she liked him. ' _Brilliant, Nari. Brilliant…_ ' She thought to herself sarcastically.

"And I'll take that as a yes. That you do like me." He sounded really happy, so she decided to just go with it. After all, it was the truth. There was no point in lying about something like this. Straightforward was the way to go.

' _Oh, who am I kidding..._ ' This was all new territory to her and she had no clue as to what they were supposed to do next.

"Nari, while I find it very amusing that you get so embarrassed about things like this, I would like to see your face eventually." She could already see in her mind how his eyebrow rose to express his amusement.

' _Damn him._ ' She squirmed when he finally pulled her away from him. He watched as her face turned bright red again. ' _I just calmed down too-_ ' She didn't know what to look at, so she began to look at everything but him. That ended pretty quickly when his hands cupped her cheeks and made her look at him. "Nn…" She wanted to slap herself for making such a pitiful sound.

"I know that you're capable of speech, so at least, answer this." She wished he would speak faster, but he took his jolly time, which started to piss her off. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" With that question, she decided to admit defeat; she had lost the game against him - though her loss wasn't anything bad in her opinion...

"...Okay." She managed to say - _just barely_.

' _Wait. What did I just say-_ ' The moment his eyes brightened, she gave up on trying to be intelligent in his presence. She felt like an idiot - a stupid idiot who couldn't get a hold of herself. ' _This must be how Hotaru-chan feels on a daily basis around Shindo._ '

She inwardly praised her best friend constantly - even as she felt Miyuki picking her up and putting her on his lap. She then leaned against him, feeling his arms wrap around her comfortably, and decided at that very moment to just try to get used to all of this.

Her last thought before blanking out completely was...

' _This is harder than trying to pass his training regimens._ '

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Another update!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

It had been a few hours since the team came back to their house at the school. Before Hotaru had the chance to even unpack, Nari quickly pulled her into her room. "I have something serious to tell you."

Hotaru sat down on her best friend's bed. "What is it, _meow_?"

Nari pulled at her hair as if breaking down. Her voice went a little bit high pitch. "I mean it, Hotaru- _chan_. It's serious."

"Okay okay. What is it and what happened and who do I need to kill?" Hotaru looked at her seriously.

"Don't freak out." Despite her saying that, Hotaru could see that it was her best friend who was freaking out instead. "I'm… Oh god, I can't believe I'm saying this. I'm… I'm going out with Miyuki!" Silence fell on them.

Hotaru twitched before all hell went loose. "WHAT?! YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH KAZU- _NII_ AND I DIDN'T GET TO TAKE A VIDEO OF YOUR CONFESSION TO HIM?!"

She whipped her head towards her best friend in disbelief. "WAIT A SECOND! WHY DO YOU THINK THAT I CONFESSED TO HIM FIRST?!"

"SO HE'S THE ONE WHO CONFESSED TO YOU FIRST?!"

"STOP SAYING IT SO LOUD!" Nari jumped onto the bed and covered Hotaru's mouth. "What if the guys hear?!" She managed to say between her teeth.

Meanwhile, Miyuki and Shindo were sitting at the dining table. "So you're going out with Nari. Took you long enough. I thought you would ask her out faster." Shindo said with a grin.

"Well I was going to before the second match, but things didn't work out since she was too worried and it was just inconvenient in general." Miyuki shrugged. "I think it's better off this way though. She could have rejected me if I asked her out before the second match."

"Because of her past?"

"Yeah." Miyuki fixed his glasses as he then took a sip of his tea. Both snickered when they heard Hotaru's loud squealing from Nari's room.

"SO TELL ME ALL OF THE DETAILS." Hotaru furiously whispered.

"Well…" Nari squirmed in her seat, unsure as to how she could even explain it in chronological order. "I didn't even realize…. No… I didn't admit to myself that I liked him a lot until he confessed to me…"

"And then…?! Tell me everything in order!" She crawled over to Nari quickly. She couldn't wait to hear all of the small details.

"During the last night at your place, Nari first gave me Honjo Masamune as a present. And then I hugged her as thanks. After that, I told her that I liked her and confirmed that she liked me back. And then I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes. That's all." Miyuki walked into the room with a grin. He picked up Hotaru from the bed and placed her outside of the room. "Now, go bother Shindo instead. I want to spend time with my girlfriend after all - _as her boyfriend._ "

Nari stared at him incredulously, while Hotaru blushed furiously, wondering what he was going to do to her best friend. "YOU BETTER NOT DO ANYTHING NAUGHTY IN THERE-" Before she could even complete her sentence, Miyuki had already closed the door on her.

"...You were eavesdropping…?" Nari crossed her arms. She really wanted to let everything out to Hotaru, so that she could be relieved of her overwhelming thoughts about her new situation. Her heart pounded and she wanted to get out of the room to hide. She really could not help but panic around him. Breathing in and out, she made herself relax under his presence.

"I wasn't really eavesdropping, considering that she was yelling everything out. It's hard to ignore that in the dining room." He shrugged, plopping down next to her on her bed. She soon wrapped herself with her blanket comfortably. "And it's true that I wanted to spend more time with you."

She found that she couldn't really fault him on that. "Well, I do want to talk to Hotaru soon though…"

He ruffled her hair. "Then when that happens, I'll let you two talk without any interruptions."

"But how did you hear her, Miyuki…? The walls in this room are soundproof, you know." She asked him softly.

"You didn't close the door all the way. I guess you were panicking too hard to even notice." The moment he answered, she swore to herself that she would always double check to make sure that her door was closed from now on. "Anyways… Since we're boyfriend and girlfriend now, I think you should start calling me Kazuya, don't you think?" His grin looked almost hopeful. She felt that she couldn't let him down, but at the same time, she just wanted to cover herself with the blanket completely.

"Tha-that's…" She wondered if she really could hide from him for a second. "That's such a hard hurdle…"

"I'm sure you'll excel at it eventually. Don't worry. I'll help you out." Somehow, that sounded ominous to her. Her eye twitched. He laughed again before his gaze on her turned intense. "Now that we're done discussing about why we could hear Hotaru from the dining room and established how we should call each other…"

"..." She looked at him warily.

He blinked before chuckling to himself. "It's not like I'm going to eat you. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't know… It just felt right to look at you like that." She pulled the blankets over her head again, almost hiding from him. He then gently pushed her down on her bed. "And maybe I should have kept looking at you like that."

His fingers curled around the blankets that she covered herself with, pulling it back, so that he could see her face. "Maybe I just like to look at my girlfriend without a blanket hiding her appearance."

"Well this girlfriend likes the blanket and would like it covering her." She sniffed, trying to get the blanket back. He grinned and never let go of the blanket. She glared at him and looked to the side in annoyance.

That was when she felt something warm and soft touch her cheek. She faced him in disbelief. "Miyuki, did you just-" His lips hovered over hers. " _ki_ …" She couldn't complete her question. Her mind turned blank.

"I told you to call me Kazuya…" His voice was starting to turn her into mush. And instead of letting his lips touch hers, his fingers traced her lips slowly. "I'm going to kiss you now, Nari."

"Ka...zuya..." She found herself distracted by the tickling sensation of his fingers on her lips. "...Nn…" She hated how she becomes ridiculously unlike herself around him. Unable to handle this overwhelming situation, she grabbed his fingers and lifted her head to kiss him first. His eyes widened in surprise when her lips touched his ever so slightly. She laid back down on the bed in shock. "Did I just…"

He chuckled before leaning his forehead against hers. "Yes, you just did."

She covered her face with her hands. " _How embarrassing._ " Before she could somehow hide herself in the blankets again, he moved her hands above her head and then took the time after to slowly kiss her until she could no longer speak.

* * *

"Okay, so now that we've decided on the play, we should quickly name the characters and decide on them as well." Shindo sent a close eyed smile to his classmates.

Ever since the play had been decided on, Hotaru had been perpetually pouting; all her arguments against Romeo and Juliet had gone to waste. ' _That's such a boring idea! It's been done so many times before…'_

Just as she was inwardly fuming, she perked up upon hearing Kevin's name being called.

"With the final votes, Kevin is Romeo." Saying that, Shindo scanned the classroom. "Does anyone volunteer to be Juliet?"

Just as he finished saying that, Kevin raised his hand higher and quicker than any of the other students.

Miyuki cocked an amused eyebrow. "Kevin, do you want to be Romeo _and_ Juliet?"

"A-Ah," Kevin stammered, sheepishly smiling once he realized how confusing that was. "No, I just wanted to nominate Hotaru- _chan_ for Juliet."

Hotaru let out a low increduled sound at that, while he sent her an unapologetic grin.

"..." Miyuki turned his amused gaze to Shindo, who was seemingly unaffected.

"Alright, so I'll write the candidates' names on the board. Vote for whoever you see fit."

Hotaru's whispers of " _But I don't even want to be Juliet_ …" were drowned out and ignored by the student body.

In the end, the results were in her favour - or in her perspective, in her disfavour.

She banged her head on the desk. "But I don't want to be Juliet…!"

Nari, who was sitting besides her, only gave her a barely pitying pat.

"I wanted to be the scriptwriter so that I could at least mess up this play and make it fun-" She raised her head once more in indignation as she ranted off to Nari.

"Think of it this way," Nari said, satisfyingly getting all of Hotaru's attention. "Since you're Juliet, and Kevin's Romeo, you could make Shindo jealous."

Immediately, Hotaru's expression fell into a bewildered one, tinted with red.

"Well, if that guy can even feel jealous." Nari shrugged.

"...What does that mean," Hotaru spoke with a dull tone as if her hopes just got dashed.

' _Well, there are around nine and a half weeks left for the preparations… So who knows - maybe something will happen. Hehehe, maybe it'll happen during the three days of the festival?'_

Looking at Hotaru giggling to herself again, Nari sighed; her best friend's thoughts were all _very_ visible on her face...

* * *

"Hina- _chan_!" Hotaru smiled brightly at the shy girl, who seemed flustered about her name suddenly being called out.

"Hotaru- _san_ ," she said, her demeanour relaxing. She then returned Hotaru's smile with a smaller one. They were close friends, _well_ , close enough that Hotaru had to accompany her to the healing teacher a few times when Hina got a nosebleed - a nosebleed caused by her _intense_ fangirling of Shindo and Miyuki _together_.

"Congratulations on getting Juliet." Hina abashedly pulled one of her free ginger locks of hair behind her ear.

Immediately, Hotaru's smile turned resigned and she sighed. "Yeah… It's not like I _wanted_ to be Juliet… Especially with such a boring play…" Once more, she brightened up. "But, there's a way to make this fun~!"

Hina blinked. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly; she was unsure of whether she wanted to know or not.

"You're the scriptwriter, after all..." Hotaru placed her hands on Hina's shoulders. "How about we… _change_ the story a bit, _hmm_ ~?"

* * *

"Oh Romeo, to attain dear cousin Tybalt's heart, you must appeal to his sense of morality and his intelligence. He already does quite fancy you, but he is afraid - afraid of what one may call love. He is one wary fellow. It will be far from easy to strip past his initial barriers…" Hotaru strode across the room dramatically.

"Ah - but I am hardly patient, Juliet my friend. How I desire him writhing in my bed underneath me, his face crawling with pleasure. Ah, may the skies inspire within a patience I haven't quite had in myself." Nari's low voice echoed across the room, filled with passion and desire. The only thing that ruined it was the way Nari looked so deadpan that Hotaru's eyebrow twitched in response.

"Nari- _chan_!" Hotaru pouted, dropping the act. "C'mon, you can put some more emotion into your face as you say the lines!"

Nari sighed. "What a pain..."

Shindo, who was getting water from the kitchen, smirked; he supposed he didn't have to worry about mister Romeo. After all, with _those_ lines…

* * *

"Keep your distance from me, fellow of Montague!" Tybalt - _or Miyuki_ \- bellowed out harshly. The iciness in his eyes at that moment was amplified by his slicked back hair, only allowing a mere strand to stand over his forehead in a domineering manner. He was dressed in sky blue noble garbs, his hand resting upon the sword sheathed within his belt.

"But my dear Tybalt... Do you not love me as I love you?" Romeo, _or rather Kevin_ , implored of him as he hesitantly stepped closer. "It is true, is it not? Then why-"

"Such emotions have no matter in things larger than us," Miyuki said, turning his back on Romeo. "You must stick to the Montague side and I by the Capulets; our togetherness is but a curse upon our families and other loved ones. Hence it must not be..."

Kevin, with his long low ponytail wig, glanced down, tremors shooting through his lips. "But… What of _us,_ dear Tybalt?"

"Do you wish to betray us so, Tybalt - my _comrade_?" Mercutio - _or Siwon_ , one of their other classmates - called out ferociously, hurt flashing across his face, as he looked at Romeo and stalked up to him.

"If that is the man who bewitched you…" Siwon turned his hurt poisonous green gaze to Tybalt with hatred flashing in them. "Then I must slay him!" He pushed on forth, clutching onto a sword.

Miyuki, barely blinking, met Siwon's sword in a one-sided duel, and in a matter of minutes, drove his weapon through his torso.

"Mercutio!" Kevin cried out, rushing to meet Siwon's falling body.

"Romeo," Siwon coughed out, his unfocused eyes finding Kevin's, as he laid his hand on his cheek. "I…have always loved you." And then, stillness...

"... N…No…" Tears fell from Kevin's face like a waterfall.

"Now, you see," said Miyuki, sheathing his sword once more, and turned his back on Kevin. "Us two… We were never meant to be."

Kevin's eyes flickered up and a sudden rage filled him. "You…" Grabbing Siwon's sword, he swiftly stood up and stabbed it through Miyuki.

Miyuki coughed out blood and shakily fell onto his knees. A hoarse chuckle left him. "At least… I get to go by your hands…"

Kevin dropped his sword in horror just as Miyuki met the ground face first. "...N… NOO!"

"Scene end," Mariana called out. At once, the squealing sound of girls filled the room as the exhausted actors got up once more.

"Oh my god, oh my god! I never thought of this before… BUT KAZUYA-SAMA X KEVIN-SAMA...!" The girl, who yelled this, joined hands with her friend and squealed again.

Hina, in the back, already fainted from her nosebleed. Hotaru quickly dragged her out of the room. Nari coughed into her hand, trying to stop herself from laughing, while her boyfriend glared at her. She sent him an apologetic look.

* * *

"You never did love me," said Paris - _or rather, Shindo_. He affectionately smoothed out Hotaru's tousled black locks and gazed at her with a disconsolate gleam in his eyes. "But I…I always did." With his black garbs and his black shaggy hair, he nearly melded in with the depicted night.

Off in the distance, Kevin took in a shaky gulp. He could tell that the affection and care in Shindo's gesture for Hotaru was _real_ \- not acting. It flustered and destabilized him to know of their mutual feelings for each other. "Why is it," he croaked out. "Why is it… That all whom I hold dear in my heart turn away from me!" He turned his hurtful glance towards Shindo as he unsheathed his sword. He needed to concentrate on the play and forget about this.

Shindo, or Paris, who noticed the 'ruffian' running in his direction - intercepted him with a blade of his own. "You…" He narrowed his eyes. "Are you Romeo, that villainous scum?"

Kevin's eyes unintentionally flickered over to Hotaru - that did not go unnoticed by Shindo. "What if I am, _Paris_?"

"If you are here to tarnish the grave of my beloved Juliet, then step aside and let me pierce you with my sword! For you must perish here!" Shindo's eyes narrowed at him in warning. ' _Stay away from her.'_

"Have you forgotten the nature of the bond of which we shared in our childhood? Such close friends we were, and I truly did adore you. Is it in your blood to cut away at such an old friend?" Kevin pushed back. "I am not here to tarnish her grave; I am here to mourn… Just like you." ' _You can't keep me away from her.'_

"I apologize, but such irrelevant things do escape me quite often. As you are a Montague, and she a Capulet, I cannot be sure of your true desires," Shindo declared, his tone chilly.

"How could you forget… Just when I regained my desire to live a happy life... Just when I found you once again and rediscovered the love I had for you," Kevin proclaimed, his eyes glassy.

"Such a thing - I do not care for when the only person I love and desire to be with, _Juliet_ , is already dead." Shindo allowed a fleeting glance at Hotaru, as written in the play, allowing 'Romeo' to slay him.

"How could you...!" Tearfully, Kevin slashed at Shindo's abdomen, causing him to fall back.

"J…Juliet…" Even as blood dripped down from Shindo's mouth, he crawled over to Hotaru. "M…My beloved…" Caressing her face, his eyes closed and his movement stilled.

Sobbing, Kevin fell to his knees. "Once more… Once more…" He brought his hands up to his face, crying out in them.

"No more... No more can I tolerate such pain." He raised his tearful face and stabbed himself. He then fell down and stilled.

All was silent for a moment before the audience stood up clapping and hooting.

"THAT WAS WONDERFUL!"

"KAZUYA-SAMA AND YOH-SAMA WERE WONDERFUL!"

"I'VE NEVER SHIPPED KAZUYA-SAMA AND KEVIN-SAMA HARDER!"

"KEVIN-SAMA, LOOK AT ME~!"

Hotaru continued to resist the _intense_ and _immediate_ urge to go to the bathroom. ' _Oh god, it's going to be a pain to pee with this damn dress on…_ '

* * *

" _Oh man."_ Hotaru twirled around in more comfortable clothes now; she finished going to the bathroom and was out of that damned dress. Now, she was checking out the festival with her friends. ' _Could things be getting any better now_ …'

"That play was a success, alright," Nari said, teasingly looking at her boyfriend, who was in a bit of a bad mood because of his _role_ in the play. His eye twitched. She held his hand to lighten his mood; it worked, considering the smile she saw on his face. He tried to frown again, but when she leaned against him, he gave up and went back to being in a good mood.

"Man... Romeo had such a bad pattern of falling for emotionally unavailable guys, and then, like, _killing_ them," Hotaru commented as she munched on her takoyaki. She looked around the festival with her eyes lightening up. "HEY, HEY! LET'S GO TO THAT HAUNTED HOUSE OVER THERE!" Nari sighed. Hotaru continued to bounce up and down, her head flitting from her friends to the haunted house itself.

* * *

A grotesque creature with deformed flesh as if it had been stitched in an underground hospital loomed in front of Hotaru.

"Oh~! Hello!" Hotaru smiled merrily and waved excitedly at them.

The person masquerading as that creature blinked - uncertain about how to react. ' _Eh...? It's not supposed to go like this…'_

Behind the very inspective and inquisitive Hotaru stood her three teammates who weren't scared of the haunted house but seemed to be more in awe of it.

"I wonder how they designed this place… Like what kind of magic did they use…?" Nari asked no one in particular as she took a closer look at the decorations; Miyuki sent an amused glance in her direction. It wasn't as if he expected her to be scared of the haunted house, but it was always amusing to see that _that_ was what she was thinking about instead.

"Come on, Hotaru. We're going on ahead." Shindo called out to her as they walked ahead of her.

"Oh-! Wait for me!" She ran after her friends, leaving behind the creature who was fried from the series of questions that she asked them in an annoyingly persistent manner.

' _Just…what is it with these people?!'_

* * *

"I won't stay away from Hotaru." Kevin declared to Shindo with determination.

"And...?" Shindo wasn't worried. After all, _he_ was the one she liked and not Kevin. Needless to say, his possessiveness almost took control of him. "It's her decision to make, not ours. While we aren't officially together, I did tell her that I would remain exclusive for her until she was ready. She already told me that she liked me, so you have no place in our relationship." Shindo smiled at him in a mocking manner. He then looked on ahead, ready to go back to rearranging the things left from the festival that finished yesterday.

"But… Even so, you guys aren't going out yet." Shindo's smile twitched from the hope in Kevin's voice.

"You said that you would remain exclusive for her, but…" Kevin hesitantly murmured. "You didn't say if she would remain exclusive _for you_."

Shindo continued to walk away from him.

* * *

"AND NOW WE WILL BE STARTING THE QUALIFICATIONS EVENT! AS YOU MIGHT ALREADY KNOW, THE LAST TEAM STANDING WILL BE THE ONE WHO WILL BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE MAZE! ANYTHING GOES INSIDE OF THE MAZE, EXCEPT FOR MURDER." The announcer shouted into his mic. Everyone cheered out of excitement. "WHEN THERE IS ONLY ONE TEAM LEFT, RED FIREWORKS WILL GO UP INTO THE AIR!"

"NOW… ARE ALL THE TEAMS READY?!" At the sound of his voice, all teams waited at their assigned gate. Some were tense; others were relaxed. "READY…" Shindo nodded at his teammates; Hotaru smiled while Nari and Miyuki nodded back at him. "GO!" The gates flashed before disappearing. Most teams dashed into the maze.

With Shindo at the front and Miyuki at the back, Hotaru stood behind Shindo and Nari stood in front of Miyuki. The two males had the fastest reflexes, so that was why they were guarding the outer. "Let's take our time since there's no time limit." Shindo reminded the others. "Slow and steady wins the race."

After a couple of minutes passed by, they heard a high pitch scream from afar. "It's definitely starting…" Nari muttered to herself. An explosion occurred in the same location as the voice that screamed earlier. "Definitely starting…"

Before they had to chance to scout the rest of the area that they were in, another big explosion blew in their direction. Shindo immediately blocked the smoke with a magic barrier. Miyuki unsheathed Honjo Masamune from its black sheath. "Something's coming. It doesn't feel like people though." When the others heard Miyuki's warning, they focused on the presences that was in the direction of the explosion.

 _Badump. Badump._

Nari's eyes widened in shock. She suddenly dashed into the smoke. Her head pounded furiously, reminding her of the past.

"NARI!" Miyuki shouted after her.

* * *

Nari bit her bottom lip, taking out her dagger. Without warning, she saw the large jaws snapping in her direction. She quickly slashed it in half, purifying it in seconds. "FU-"

She heard the sharp cry of someone familiar. Turning around, she saw Mariana on her knees as she tried to protect herself from the hordes of demons that surrounded her with a dome-like barrier. Nari's magic flared around her, warning the demons. They faced her with sharp slit eyes and large jaws. Their long tongue flicked up and down, drooling over the fact that they have more prey to catch. Its humanistic body flexed its muscles as it prepared to kill her.

Nari focused her magic on the blood of the demon she killed earlier. The moment they jumped to attack her, she dashed forward and slashed every single one, dodging all of them successfully and freezing them completely. With the snap of her fingers, the blood from the demon she killed first flew into the air and turned into sharp icicles. She motioned her hand towards the rest of the demons. Blood squirted everywhere as the icicles stabbed through each one. More blood dripped from the corpses that surrounded her.

She sensed for anything that was living and had blood; thankfully, there seemed to be none left. So with a solemn expression hanging from her face, she spotted Mariana again.

Her usual partner for combat magic was covered with red blood. It almost seemed like the blood became one with her usual bright red hair. She seemed to tremble badly as she stared at her hands and at her surroundings. Her pale white skin looked sickly.

Nari noticed then that her teammates laid on the floor - unmoving.

Knowing what that meant, she blocked Mariana's view of their dead bodies. She then kneeled in front of her with one knee. "Are you okay?" She managed to ask, wiping Mariana's face with her handkerchief. "We still don't know how many demons are left, so I need you to help out. You'll have to mourn for your teammates later."

Thankfully, Mariana managed to nod in agreement as she shakily stood back up.

It was then when the rest of team 8 arrived.

"Nari, don't just run-" Worry swirled in Miyuki's eyes, but once he noted the condition of the field and of the corpses around them, he stayed quiet. It was clear that their classmate was traumatized and just barely hanging on. In that case, it was better to let Nari to take care of the situation.

Shindo's eyes darkened. "Why are there demons here…?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be normal qualifications stage? I thought that they checked the maze before letting us enter it." Hotaru cried out - horrified of the situation. "Then are we supposed to stay stuck here until only one team is remaining - so that we can get out?"

"This is ridiculous." Nari snarled. "I swear if it's _that woman_ and one of her _lunatic_ ideas, I'm going to kill her myself." When she realized that Mariana still couldn't control herself yet, she hugged Mariana protectively as the red haired girl held onto her tightly in response. "You guys, I need to heal her. Protect us."

"No problem." Shindo motioned to everyone to form a triangular pyramid barrier around them. "Don't lose focus."

Letting Mariana fall to her knees, Nari held her close as she caressed her hair. In a quiet voice, she sang a lullaby that was infused with healing magic - specifically, it was created for calming babies, but the purpose it served worked well here. " _Hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Daemones sunt hic. Et ego adsum. Itaque tu non solum. Daemones relinquo. Ego sum usque huc. Sic hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Tu non solum. Ego adsum._ " She repeated the phrases until Mariana no longer shook violently. The red haired girl slumped against Nari, breathing in and out in a calm manner. Even though her magic focused on the fire user, it also calmed down the others as well. "Are you ready, Mariana?"

Mariana's eyes fluttered open. She stared at Nari; her movement was a little sluggish. If it wasn't for their situation, she would have fallen asleep from the lullaby. Usually, the idea of being calmed by a technique that is usually used on babies would embarrass her, but she was thankful that Nari knew such a method. "Yes. I'm ready. Let's go." They both stood up. Hotaru handed Mariana her staff. "Thanks." Hotaru nodded, acknowledging her thanks.

The moment they said that, demons started to march in their direction. "Shindo, let's do pair attacks." When Shindo nodded, Nari directed everyone. "Mariana, support us from the middle; you'll need to focus your support on Shindo and Hotaru _-chan_. Kazuya and I will handle this side of the maze, while Shindo and Hotaru- _chan_ will handle the other opening."

Mariana gritted her teeth, tightening her hold on her staff. "Let's do this."

Shindo used his pressure waves attack on the ground, making the demons fall down; those that hit the ground hard were purified by the remainings of his pressure waves. Meanwhile, Hotaru used her air magic bullets to purify the ones that he missed. She also made sure to stall the demons with her air barriers at the same time. Mariana shot out her fire magic bullets with Hotaru and made sure that her barriers were keeping them all safe.

Miyuki and Nari stood back-to-back as the demons surrounded them after realizing that they couldn't get through the thick ice wall that Nari made earlier with the blood of the dead demons from earlier to cover the opening. "In a way, I'm glad that there are no demons that can fly here." Nari murmured to him. He made a noise of agreement.

"We won't let them get past us." Miyuki tightened his hold on Masamune. In seconds, they pulverized the demons around them by attacking and defending, switching off positions with each other. The moment Miyuki slashed with his katana, shot out magic bullets, and released water attacks, Nari defended them both by freezing any demons that came close, creating ice walls, and controlling icicles to stab them. However, when the demons focused on killing Nari, Miyuki switched to defending by erecting a water barrier and then slicing through them in seconds.

Hours passed, but the amount of demons spawning in the maze has not stopped. Everyone breathed heavily. "Why is there no end to this?!" Hotaru shouted, feeling like her stamina was not enough for this.

"There has to be a leader-" Nari huffed, slicing another demon with her dagger. She popped a magic energy candy in her mouth. Everyone else also ate their candy. "We need to go find it instead of lingering here!"

They suddenly heard a loud explosion - one that was too big to be from one person. High pitched screams pierced the air. "Let's go check it out! Maybe the one who's controlling all of these demons is over there!" Shindo cried out.

They slashed and hacked at the demons, making a clear road for themselves. "We're almost there!" Mariana blasted a fire barrier, burning some of the demons on the way. Hotaru shot out some air magic bullets behind them, exploding some of the demons.

"Over there!" Miyuki yelled, pulling Nari closer to him. "I see someone!"

So many teams were on the ground - either dead or passed out. A huge tree-like demon roared, releasing energy bursts from its mouth. Only five severely injured people were barely conscious as they erected a strong barrier to protect the people who were still unconscious.

"Oh my god." Mariana took a step back. Fear lingered in her expression. Nari grabbed onto her arm, making sure that she was stable on her feet. "Sorry." Mariana looked ashamed for letting her fear take over for a brief moment.

"No, it's okay." Nari smiled comfortingly to the girl. "Let's help them." Everyone nodded in response. "I'll go distract."

"Wait-" Miyuki pulled her back. "Let me do it-"

"No." Nari's eyes hardened. "Kazuya, your barrier is stronger than mine. We need to protect them." She then realized why he was very wary of making her be the one to distract the demon. She smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry. The headmistress let me access my magic better during emergencies and even so, I won't risk it. I don't want to be in another coma nor do I want to lose my life."

"...As long as you remember that." He let her go. She nodded and dashed off with her magic flaring. The demon aimed his energy burst towards her with its roots pulling up from the ground - intent on capturing its prey. Thanks to Miyuki's harsh trainings in the past, she mastered the art of dodging and sensing incoming attacks the best. This time, she wouldn't let fear stop her from sensing attacks from all directions - unlike in the second battle. Using the blood from everywhere, she blocked and attacked the tree demon - keen in figuring out its weakness.

Meanwhile, Miyuki, Hotaru, and Mariana focused on keeping the barrier up as Shindo fed the others who were still conscious with magic energy candies and using basic healing magic on them. "Are you guys okay? What the hell happened?" Shindo asked them, watching them heal themselves.

One of them began to sob loudly. Another hugged their teammate who ended up answering him. "The event happened normally, but after knocking out quite a few teams, the ground started to break apart and the demons started to come out like crazy. We were able to stop the demons to a good extent, except for the many who went past us, but we weren't strong enough to save the teams that were knocked out already. Other teams came over to help, but some of them died as well…" Tears started to flow out of their eyes. "It was then when that demon popped out of the hole and attacking us with its energy bursts. We were so useless - _so fucking weak._ At this rate, we're just going to die in this maze."

The other two stayed silent until the female spoke. Her posture was relaxed and calm - now that they had backup. "It feels like it's impossible for us to make it at this rate, but we might have more of a chance in breaking the barrier up there and sending out a red firework, along with using messenger magic."

"Then let's do that, but considering that the people who made the barrier are stronger than us, we might just have to focus on breaking the barrier and sending out fireworks - instead of using messenger magic in addition to that. We won't have enough energy for that." Miyuki interjected. "Anyways, we have nothing to lose and we will all die if things keep going like this. Nari can only distract the demon so much. She'll run out of stamina in a few minutes."

"Then let me do it." Mariana's expression turned solemn. "My fire magic has the most potential in being seen as a red firework."

"I'll back you up." Hotaru joined them. "After all, wind can help make your fire explode."

The female who made the suggestion stood up. "I'll also add onto the fire power. My power is lightning after all."

Nari finally entered their barrier in a huff. The tree demon screeched like a madman. Its roots slammed against the ground harshly. Nari almost froze the tree from inside and out. Hotaru blinked and stared at Nari. "What did you do to that demon? It sounds like it's having an orgasm."

"..." Everyone turned speechless at Hotaru's words. She laughed nervously before apologizing.

"I stuffed a lot of icicles down its fucking throat. I hope it gets a brain freeze and dies from it." Nari snorted. "I swear… That would be the greatest death of a demon ever." They didn't know whether to laugh at her words or not. "Anyways, when I was running away from it, I tried to hack at it from the inside by using those icicles. If I was stronger, I could've literally freezed it to death from the inside. But this is the most I can do." She sighed. Miyuki held her close, popping a magic energy candy into her mouth. She ate it and sent a thankful look to Miyuki. "So what's the game plan?"

"Shindo will have to distract the demon since he has just as much stamina as I do. Those of you who have energy now have to backup Shindo." Miyuki indicated to the other people who are still conscious. He then motioned to the lightning user, Mariana, and Hotaru. "Those three will try to break through the maze barrier and then release an explosive red firework, preferably several, for people to think that the event is over. It should seem strange to the higher authorities, so they will send people to investigate." He locked eyes with Nari. "You and I will make a barrier to keep the people who are still alive to stay alive. We also need to make sure that the three trying to break through the barrier will stay cool in temperature." Nari nodded in understanding.

"Then let's get into position." Shindo directed everyone. With everyone in their spots, he yelled out, "START!"

Mariana raised her staff towards the sky. " _Ignis urere caelo. Effunde flammis inferni. Nam devorabit omnia in cinere_." A glowing red orb started to form above her staff. It grew rapidly as her magic flared around her.

The lightning user lifted her hands into the air. " _Fulgur, audi clamorem meum. Obscena stipitem egerunt inimicos meos. Percutiunt corda sua timore. Conteret omnia in semita._ " Similarly, a white blue colored orb with electricity zapping around it multiplied in size.

Hotaru's bell jingled as she held it above her. " _Ventus altum volat. Parit omnia simul. Ita imperium ignis. Ego exaudiam te. Adolebitque illud omnibus._ " Her wind from her own grey white orb began to pour into the lightning orb and fire orb constantly. Gusts of wind surrounded the three protectively.

" _Leniret pluvia. Stillantur. Ab hostibus defendat. Salvos nos. Nos autem secretum. Quod praecipio tibi_." He held one hand up after sheathing Masamune. A gentle barrier of water surrounded them, creating a dome-like barrier. The tree demon seemed to not notice their presence; it was as though he had erased their presence from the area.

Nari leaned against him and raised one hand up as well. " _Veni descendit de caelis. Sit luminaria in glacie cursus dirigendos pedes nostros. Iter defendat... Ne actus noster esse victoria._ " The water barrier now had an extra outer and inner layer of ice, protecting it from the first barrage of attacks. The three who were concentrating on the majority of their magic towards the barrier felt a cool air surrounding them, no longer allowing the heat from their magic to bother or distract them. She soon clasped hands with Miyuki as they stood back-to-back with each other. From their clasped hands, they were regulating their magic flow, ensuring that the barrier is stable and that no one was going overboard with how much magic they were using.

Mariana glanced at the other two. They nodded to her. "READY?!" She cried out.

"GO!" They all screamed as they felt the immense power from their combined magic attack, almost falling to their knees. Their feet dug into the ground harshly, but they kept holding on, using all of their will to stand properly and concentrate on the attack. The moment the energy burst hit the maze's barrier, the barrier rippled and cracked. Thanks to the overexerted amount of magic all three were putting into for this single attack, the barrier shattered immediately, letting out a terrifyingly huge red air explosion above them. Crackles of lightning electrified the air as well, creating extra small explosions. Everyone from the ground could hear the cries of the audience from afar. All three slumped down the ground - totally spent from using all of that energy.

Shindo and the others entered the barrier once more. They drank some of their water and popped some more magic energy candies in their mouths. "That was some explosive SOS signal." Shindo grinned, giving them a thumbs up. The three could only wryly smile at him.

It was at this moment that the tree demon exploded into nothing but purified particles. The special attack force that was on standby for one of the top noble families entered the scene. Their dark red outfits and an insignia of a ruby with a tiger lily in the middle of it made it easy for Mariana to recognize them at first glance. "Father...must have recognized…" She managed to say. Relief lingered in her expression.

Soon after, several more special attack forces for other families joined the fight against the demons and rescued the rest of the teams. Nari finally released the barrier with Miyuki once she felt no presence of demons near them. They both slumped down to the ground, breathing hard.

During all of the chaos, she heard from those running around them that the royal family ordered the noble families to investigate the reason why demons were in the maze when the safety of the maze was supposedly checked by the headmistress herself.

"I guess the competition is going to be canceled…" Nari managed to comment.

Miyuki laughed. "To think that you would think about that now out of all things. But then again, this would be the first time that the competition would be canceled."

"I hope they figure out the reason soon." Hotaru yelled out. She still couldn't move an inch as she laid down on the ground.

"We will." Mariana's eyes darkened. "My family will most likely lead the investigation. We will not stop until we find out the truth."

"I suppose my family will also join in, considering that I've been caught up with all of this mess." Shindo shrugged, also laying down on the ground.

Miyuki snorted. "If that happens, then my father will do the same."

"I almost forgot that you three are part of the Noble Five." Hotaru dazedly murmured.

Nari didn't say anything, but Miyuki glanced over at her, knowing that she was thinking hard. "Nari, what's wrong." She blinked and looked at him with a concerned gaze.

"The headmistress was the one who checked the safety of the maze. There is no way that someone like her who is level 3 would not sense the presence of that many demons." The frown on her face made him frown as well. "I didn't think she would be… No, I can't assume, but knowing her, it's plausible. She's not exactly sane as you already know."

He managed to pull her closer to him, holding the back of her head with his hand. "We'll find out soon enough. No need to think about it anymore."

" _Un._ " She nodded before allowing the medics to check over her.

* * *

For the past week, all students were put under house arrest, which is why no one left their property. Only those whose teammates or those who are best friends with the deceased were temporarily let out to participate in the funerals before they were sent back to their respective houses. Even so, this created a sense of hatred, dissatisfaction, and anger towards the one who ordered this to happen - the headmistress.

Nari stared out the window, feeling a bit worried about Mariana's mental state. She sighed for the millionth time. Miyuki approached her and without letting her sigh again, he pulled her into a chaste kiss, startling her. "What was _that_ for?" Her eye twitched.

"That's for sighing for too many times." He poked her on the forehead with his finger. She glared at him, rubbing the spot where he poked. "You'll make all of your luck run out."

She grumbled to herself about how he was being ridiculous. She accidentally let out another sigh when her thoughts turned back to Mariana. Miyuki kissed her again. She glared at him. "I'm trying to think about important things, you know."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "About Robustelli?"

"Yes, I wish I could go to her. I'm worried that they won't take care of her mentally… I just… I just want to check up on her." She looked saddened by this. Miyuki pulled her into a loose embrace. "I hate this house arrest. Isn't there some way for me to visit her secretly? I know that the school isn't letting the families visit their children, thanks to the investigation going on, which I think is stupid."

"We just need to wait, but…" Miyuki's eyes narrowed. He let out a sigh as well. Nari pecked him on the lips. He looked at her questioningly.

She shrugged with a tired but playful smile. "You just sighed. I thought that we were playing a game of kissing the person who sighs."

He chuckled with amusement. He pinched her nose. She growled, showing her displeasure quite obviously. "Two can play at this game." He whispered in her ear. Before he could say anything else, they heard a knock on the door. Nari stood up quickly, swinging the door open in seconds.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Jason- _sensei_? What are you doing here?" The older man smiled wryly. She invited him in as he then slumped down on their sofa.

"You know that Robustelli- _kun_ 's team is having their funeral today, correct?" Astor asked carefully, gauging her interest in the conversation.

"Yes. That's why I'm worried about Mariana right now. She'll be all alone at the funeral…" Nari muttered, feeling bitter that she can't do anything. Astor's eyes warmed at the sight.

"I can help you go see her if you would like."

"Why would you do that?" Miyuki questioned the healing teacher straightforwardly.

"Reyes- _kun_ is the only one who can truly understand what it's like to lose someone you care a lot about in front of them without being able to protect them. Feeling helpless…" Astor sighed deeply. "I would love to help, but I'm a teacher and I can only do so much for my students. And..." He looked a little guilty at Nari. "I might have told her about your past… And because of that, it feels like she's only willing to see you at the funeral…"

Miyuki's eyes darkened as anger swirled in them. "Don't you think you should ask permission from Nari before telling outsiders who aren't part of our team about her past?" Nari grabbed his hand to calm him. His eyes flickered in her direction. His frustration faded in seconds.

She finally asked the healing teacher. "You want Mariana to be a part of our team, don't you…? And that's why you told her about my past."

He sighed and then nodded. "I feel like she would heal better if she was with you guys. I know that I'm being selfish about it, but I do want the best for the students and I feel like you both can relate to each other the most now..."

Shindo and Hotaru entered the living room. They clearly heard the conversation they were having with Astor, considering the serious expression on their faces. "You should have still asked us first before assuming that we would accept." Shindo pointed out. Displeasure flashed in his eyes.

"That's why I'm asking you guys right now." Frustration stained Astor's soothing voice.

"I don't mind having Mariana- _chan_ here." Hotaru quietly said. "We worked well with her at the maze, so it wouldn't be too big of a deal. And in the past, there were teams with five members before. But… I'll leave the final decision to Nari- _chan_. Whatever she wants is what I'll go with."

"..." Shindo waited for a minute before replying, "If everyone agrees, then I'll stand by their decisions as well. We have nothing to lose anyways."

Miyuki glanced at Nari and lightened his expression. "Since my girlfriend will keep worrying about her forever, unless she's here for her to see daily, I have no choice but to say yes." Nari fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably. Her grip on his hand tightened. "But just like what Shindo said, I don't mind." Nari sighed in relief.

"Put her room near mine." Nari merely commented, showing her assent for the new addition to the team. She quickly stood up, giving a chaste kiss to Miyuki who looked at her in surprise. "Because I sighed just now." She explained very seriously. She then turned towards Astor. "Take me to her."

"Alright. Then follow me." Astor also stood up.

Before she left, she whispered to Hotaru. "Can you make sure the walls to her room are soundproof and have it all set up as a warm and welcoming environment? Such as the furniture and whatnot…" She looked restless when she tried to explain further. "I know that she can change it whenever she wants to, but at least, in the beginning, it would be great to use color psychology to calm her down." She shook Hotaru a little. "Think of it as decorating a baby's room. Okay?!"

"Leave it to me!" Hotaru pounded her chest with her fist. "I'LL MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL!"

"Beautiful? Okay, whatever. Sounds good. Go crazy." With those last words, Nari dashed off, leaving behind one stupefied boyfriend, one hyperactive best friend, and one disgruntled teammate.

* * *

When Nari arrived silently at the funeral ceremony, she heard nothing. For a moment, she wondered if she was at the right place, but when she spotted Mariana's trademark bright red hair, she knew she was at the right place. Astor quickly left after guiding her, leaving her behind with the flame user.

Feeling a bit awkward, she sat down next to Mariana silently. Mariana glanced at her once before facing the coffins again. Her eyes seemed a bit red from crying. "So what were their names? Your teammates, I mean." Nari asked quietly.

"Kevin, Yu-Yan, and Qadir…" Mariana managed to answer. Her voice cracked.

' _I feel like I heard the name, Kevin, before from Hotaru… Something about baking… And… Oh right… He acted as Romeo in the play too..._ ' Nari stared at the flame user. '... _Seems like words will be useless._ ' She gently pulled Mariana into a comforting embrace, patting her back in a rhythmic but soothing manner.

This made Mariana break into tears. She finally sobbed loudly; her cries ripped from her throat. "I couldn't protect them. I couldn't save them. They died because of my weakness. Why- WHY?! It's not fair. They didn't deserve to die like that! We were supposed to be together for a long time. A long time…" She held onto Nari as if her life depended on it. "I wish I could change what happened. I wish I was the one who died instead. I wish I trained harder. I wish… I wish so much…"

To calm her down again, Nari sang the magic lullaby softly again in hopes that it would relieve Mariana of her pain and make her feel safe again - _hoping_ that the nightmares wouldn't haunt her like it did for her. " _Hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Daemones sunt hic. Et ego adsum. Itaque tu non solum. Daemones relinquo. Ego sum usque huc. Sic hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Tu non solum. Ego adsum._ " She repeated it over and over again, slowly reassuring the fire user that she was not alone - and will never be from here on out.

* * *

When an exhausted Mariana and a solemn Nari entered the house, Hotaru greeted them quietly for once before dragging them enthusiastically to Mariana's new room. "So this is your room! Do you like it?"

For some odd reason, Mariana quirked an odd smile; it was almost as though she was doing her best to not laugh or cry. Perhaps, it was both. Nari could never be too sure. "When I said go crazy…" Nari didn't continue her words. She only stared at the vast amount of soft pastel pink in the room.

"WHAT! IT'S PERFECT!" Hotaru huffed.

"Right…" Nari sighed a little before stopping herself from sighing any further.

"I'm going to tell Kazu- _nii_ that you just sighed." Hotaru sniffed and crossed her arms with her nose up in the air.

Nari rubbed her temples. "Fine. Do as you like." She then turned towards Mariana. "You can change the room to whatever you want tomorrow. For now, get some rest."

"Wait-" She grabbed Nari's and Hotaru's arm. "Can… Can you guys stay with me for tonight…? I don't think I…"

"...Alright." Nari smiled gently at her. "But first, go take a shower to refresh yourself. We'll wait in your room, right? Hotaru- _chan_?"

" _Un!_ " Hotaru grinned brightly at them. "Don't worry! We'll be-"

"Don't say anything inappropriate, Hotaru _-chan_." Nari hardened her gaze on her best friend.

"But I didn't say anything yet-"

"That _yet_ is the problem and I sensed that you were about to say something weird." She sighed to herself.

"Well you aren't _wrong_ about that…" Hotaru stuck her tongue out playfully before jumping around them. Mariana cracked an amused smile. "Oh, and you sighed again, so you have to kiss Kazu- _nii_ two times." Nari almost sighed but managed to cover her mouth in time. She glared at her best friend for betraying her like this.

Mariana finally asked, "So you and Kazuya- _sama_ …?" She seemed highly interested in this turnabout.

"Yeah, about that… Long story." Nari tried to avoid the subject, but it seemed like she would fail for today with two people teaming up against her.

"We have all night." Mariana suggested with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Hotaru piped up, pulling at Nari's arm. "Yeah, you still haven't told me the super small details about the confession and everything!"

Nari sighed for the upteenth time before realizing that she sighed again. "Ugh, what did I do to deserve this…" Three times - she would need to kiss Miyuki three times. Would she even survive by the third?! Considering the way he sometimes counts one kiss as a very long one and then proceeds to tell her that a chaste kiss does not count… Yep, it's official; she'll probably die. If not from the kisses, then from the two who were ganging up on her. "Fine." She grudgingly relented.

"Yay!" Hotaru and Mariana high fived each other, celebrating their victory together.

* * *

Numbly, she stared at the baking book in her hands.

Almost as if offering comfort, the darkness of her room coldly embraced her, the moon's dim light outside the room hidden by heavy clouds.

He was dead.

Kevin was dead.

Putting it to words in her head seemed to solidify it even more; a nauseous guilt lingered behind with the lack of taste of those words.

"He is dead..."

"Kevin, is dead."

"Kevin is dead," she repeated these words, her voice shaking slightly despite how monotone it was; tears cascaded down her cheeks, a confused emptiness starring itself in her eyes.

What should she do to get over his death? How should she sort through the feelings of his death? He is dead, he is dead, what is the use of feeling upset. It's Mariana and his family who're truly suffering, get over it.

Barraged by thoughts, once more her mind settled into a painful numbness as the tears stopped.

Yes. That was how it was supposed to be. Just breath in, and smile; that's her role.

"Kevin is dead."

Hotaru didn't cry this time, her voice stable and her eyes as calm as the chilly darkness aiding her by the side.

As the clouds skittered away, the moon's dim light solemnly fell upon the baking book in her hands, and she found herself reading the note messily written on top of the book's cover.

' _Make sure to try the chocolate chip cookies in here - my grandma uses this recipe and they taste amazing!'_

Immediately, Hotaru began sobbing, memories and images of Kevin crippling her as she hugged the book cocooned herself.

Once more, the moon's light passed away as another slide of clouds came; Hotaru allowed a trembling smile to come over her lips as she flung her head up to stare at the ceiling.

"Kevin… Is dead."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another update.**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"Stop!" Hotaru screeched, scratching at the interrogator who held Nari tightly. "LET HER GO! I TOLD YOU THAT I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU TRY TO HURT ANY OF MY FRIENDS!" It was the same interrogator from before - the one who questioned her after the second battle. The man, however, only sneered in response.

Nari struggled in the grasp of the interrogators around her. They pushed her down to the ground roughly. She growled angrily when Hotaru's previous interrogator slammed his magic against her best friend. Hotaru winced as she tried to stand up again. Mariana ran over to Hotaru; confusion and fear flashed in her expression. It was clear that she didn't know how to react, considering that they were higher authorities to her. "Don't." Nari gritted her teeth as she warned them. She shook their hands off and stood up tall. "You don't need to drag me. I'll follow you." Her eyes darkened considerably. Without the additional help of their other two teammates, it would be difficult to fight against the interrogators anyways.

"Then follow us. And make sure that your friend doesn't try to make trouble for us." The female interrogator eyed Hotaru with annoyance.

Nari turned around, facing the door. "Hotaru- _chan_ , while I'm thankful for your good intentions, don't make things worse. Please wait for the others before doing anything and enlighten our new teammate of the situation and relationship dynamics."

" _BUT-_ "

" _ENOUGH._ " Nari glared at her best friend, silencing her effectively. Frustration stained her voice. "Enough, Hotaru- _chan._ " Her energetic friend took a step back in shock before falling to her knees lifelessly; it was as though she shut down. Nari swallowed; she glanced at Mariana. "...Take care of her please."

Although Mariana didn't know what was going on, she nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. Leave it to me."

"Thank you." Nari sighed in relief and exited the house with the interrogators. It was then when Shindo and Miyuki came back from their training. They paused in their steps, clearly seeing what was going on.

Miyuki was very close to an unstoppable rage; he barely managed to stop himself as he approached the group carefully. "And where exactly are you taking our _teammate_?"

"That has nothing to do with you." The arrogant interrogator pushed him backwards with his magic. "Make way."

But Shindo stood in their path. "It definitely has to do with us. You have the obligation to tell us where she will be and who she will be talking to, along with the reason as to why she needs to talk to that someone." He tapped his foot on the floor, indicating his displeasure. "After all, we're supposed to still be under house arrest that your _mistress_ ordered personally. So please do tell us as a representative of your _mistress_." It was clear that he was mocking the group of interrogators.

Nari managed to get through the interrogators at the front. "I'll be at the headmistress' office, talking to her. As for the reason why… It's the usual. So don't worry." She then motioned to the house. "But more importantly, can you go comfort and calm Hotaru _-chan_ down? I might have hurt her this time…" She sighed a little. "Also make the overall situation clear to Mariana. She doesn't deserve to be confused by all of this… And…"

Miyuki ignored the interrogators as he cupped her cheek. When he noted the swollen red area on her cheek, arm, and legs, his face turned rigid. His neutral expression dropped. Soon, the interrogators shuddered at what they saw. The freezing expression he held warned everyone in his vicinity just what he was capable of and what family he was part of - a good reminder of the overwhelming power and influence of the Noble Five. "You would do well to remember…" His voice deepened. He turned a hard gaze onto them. "To never harm anyone who I consider to be _my person_." Without warning, he slashed at each interrogator with Masamune in mere seconds. He sheathed his katana. They fell to their knees, holding onto their shoulders and wincing as they felt the blood seep out of their sudden wounds.

Nari glanced up at him - startled. "Kazuya…" She wasn't sure how to react to such a situation. It was all too new to her.

"Something as _minor_ as this shouldn't be a big deal… Right…?" He remained emotionless, coldly waiting for their replies.

They gritted their teeth, leaning down on one knee towards him with their heads down. "Of course. We gratefully accept our punishment. We will not make the same mistake ever again."

"I'm glad that we have an understanding of each other." Miyuki smiled pleasantly as he walked over to the arrogant interrogator who had pushed him earlier with his magic and squeezed their shoulder tightly until blood gushed out. "I can't have you guys _simply forget_ about the differences in our statuses." He then whispered in their ear. " _There's only so much that I can take… Don't test my patience because you'll soon realize that I'm more terrifying and crueler than your mistress._ " They shuddered - unable to make a move to cover their wound with their hand with the way he dug his fingers into the bleeding injury. He finally took a step away from them and wiped his hand with one of the interrogator's shirt.

When he walked back over to Nari, she blinked and stared at him incredulously. "...How can you dig into their wounds with your hand… Doesn't it feel gross?"

The fact that she was more disturbed about the feeling of blood from an injury than his actions just now amused him. "It was...unpleasant, but seeing them squirm in pain was very worth it."

She tapped at her chin thoughtfully. "I guess it kind of is…"

Shindo walked over the interrogators. "Since Miyuki already told you why you shouldn't try to cross us, I'll keep it simple. As long as she is in one piece and is not harmed any further, meaning that she has no injury by the time she is back in this house, your lives, your family, and your future will be spared." His smile seemed more threatening than his relaxed posture. The interrogators stiffened when they felt the tremor in the ground underneath them.

Shindo's voice dropped down into a sharp whisper; his eyes twinkled with disdain. " _I'll do more than eliminating your lives, your family, and your future. If Nari is hurt, then it's very likely that you hurt someone very important to me. Knowing her… It's very possible. So if both of them get hurt by either of you all anymore… Then I will destroy your happiness, your lovers, your friends, and anyone associated with you._ " The interrogators knew that he was very capable enough to back up his own threats towards them. So they inwardly prayed to themselves that nothing would happen to both of the girls from now on.

"We won't be holding you guys back," Miyuki smiled at them. "So go ahead and take her to the headmistress now."

They hesitated before standing up again. Nari held onto Miyuki's hand that did not touch the blood tightly; she leaned her head against him and took a brief moment to close her eyes, remembering the warmth coming from him. She then backed away and smiled. "I'll be fine."

He pulled her in for a surprise kiss on her forehead gently before letting go. Their foreheads leaned against each other. He locked eyes with her. "I know." He whispered.

She then followed the group of wounded interrogators, realizing belatedly that she showed such affections for Miyuki in front of a lot of people. She turned red and tried to chase such thoughts away by focusing on the situation at hand.

* * *

"Nari Reyes is here." The secretary informed the headmistress. When Nari entered the room, the headmistress dismissed the secretary from the room. The two stared at each other for a long time. Nari had no intention of starting the conversation, however, and was content with the silence.

The headmistress leaned back against her chair, waiting for Nari to ask her why she was here, but found that Nari only yawned and stared at other things soon after. Irritation flashed in her eyes. "Do you know why you are here?"

"..." Nari shrugged, seeming to not care about it at all.

The headmistress slammed her hand down. If Nari felt alone, then she would have flinched, but she could hardly care at this point. So the headmistress stood up and walked over to her in a threatening manner. They locked eyes with each other; disgust and disdain were plain in each other's eyes. "You've seen first-hand what demons are capable of. You've seen the way they kill people - thanks to their uncontrollable bloodlust. Why do you turn a blind eye towards that? Why do you think that this peace is a good thing?" It finally occurred to Nari - now that the headmistress was being calm around her - that the woman before her was so absorbed in her own perspective - in her thoughts - that the world before her seemed warped and fake; that it was only a matter of time when the house of cards would fall down. "War against the demons is the only way for true peace to be attained by the humans. Not to mention, if we win, our economy will flourish… Just think about it. When have the demons done anything good for us? Never. There has never been a point in history in which they furthered our technology and magic. It was always us."

"Is that why you thought of my grandparents as obstacles?" Nari finally asked. The headmistress' eyes glittered with delight.

"They only believed in the current peace. They thought that demons deserved a break too - that they deserved to live. That without them, we would perish or lose our magic completely as time goes by. Their belief was that a demon was necessary - just as darkness is necessary to have light. That the demons were tied to nature itself, but that's just ridiculous. We can survive just fine without needing magic and without needing demons around us. Once we eradicate the demons, there really is no need for magic. We can just evolve our technology instead!" She threw her hands up in the air. "The Noble Five don't understand. The royal family doesn't understand. They have never experienced first-hand the cruelty of the demons - the uncertainty of the fragile peace that we are experiencing right now. They don't see the vision of the future as well as those who experienced both the highs and lows. They are the thorn to human growth."

"So is that why you released demons into the maze?" Nari directly pointed out without hesitating.

The headmistress only gave a thin smile. She walked over to her window, scanning over the school with a faraway look. "Sacrifices are needed to prove a point. But with this, the nobles and royalty should understand just how fragile _peace_ can be. It's a shame that so many students died, but their deaths will not be in vain."

It was then that Nari almost raged. She abruptly remembered Mariana's reddened eyes, the mourning of the students as they gave up on their will to live against the tree demon, and the corpses that surrounded her when she was smaller. "Not be...in...vain…" She managed to say in between her teeth. Clearly, that was all the headmistress saw in the maze incident - opportunities to further her own cause. While she understood the logic in this, it did not mean that she liked it. Not to mention, the implications in her words suggested numerous crimes she committed - not for the sake of society as she believed, but rather, for the sake of her own delusions. ' _Just how many people are you going to destroy…?_ '

At the same time, though, she could not deny some of the headmistress' words. It was true that their peace was fragile and temporary; that sometimes the red tape in administration, hierarchy, and politics can hinder the growth of human beings. Not many are capable of seeing the long-term of things - no matter how much they spout about how they do. Without a strong intuition that is then backed up by support or evidence, they cannot foresee what will happen next; that foreseeing is one of the core parts of strategizing - to minimize risks and prepare for any situation that they believe could happen.

While she loved her grandparents a lot, she had to admit that they were too idealistic; that was their downfall and their weakness. Their ideals were not possible because they did not gauge the circumstances correctly. If she were to follow their ideals, it would be after she rectified that problem of not fully understanding the state of affairs beforehand… The two truly believed that it was possible to live in peace and coexist with the demons for the rest of time; that everyone was equal without the need to disturb the ecosystem since demons actually did not require human blood to live.

After all, from what she heard from many others and learned from her studies, demons were usually actually peaceful creatures that only went after animals for food. They normally went berserk or lusted after blood once someone triggered the switch in them by controlling them; this was usually done by the more intelligent demons - the ones who refused to obey the demon king and were considered to be the outliers. These demons were full of evil in their hearts and had the potential to become a danger to both species if not taken care of immediately.

However… There was something odd about the headmistress. Nari used to always hear stories about the woman from her grandparents. While the younger headmistress hated demons, she had never been purposefully against them when the circumstances did not require her to be so. She was also not a very violent person at heart. ' _What had created this change…?_ ' Nari watched the now old woman laugh to herself.

As for the idea about no longer having magic, Nari knew what kind of world that would be. Science was indeed amazing - as the headmistress put it, but the sacrifices were also huge. Nature would soon disappear and their air would slowly become polluted. The sweet tasting air that she breathed in this world was one of the reasons why she did not mind being transported into this world. Her health had gotten better too. With magic strengthening her body and eradicating any illnesses she carried in her previous world, she did not want magic to disappear, even if it meant that demons' existences would coincide with the humans. So that meant that while humans could survive just fine without magic, it would weaken their disposition, which would never be a good thing.

' _Not to mention… In a horrible way, we need the demons to kill us as we kill them. By letting such tragedies happen, we can stop the population from growing too much and from extinction. It's all about balance. After all, having enough and being able to share resources for the ones who are living are both extremely important factors to countries. Not having enough would be the true doomsday for everyone_.' She slightly grimaced at her dark thoughts.

"Perhaps, as you say… The royal family might not understand because they have for sure never experienced first-hand the cruelty of demons and might never will, but I don't see why you think that the Noble Five haven't." Nari piped up. "Because now… The Robustelli Family, the Miyuki Family, the Shindo Family, the Farkas Family, and the Kantarowitz Family are starting to get a deeper understanding of the urgency in this situation. At the very least, the heads of the Robustelli, Miyuki, and Shindo Family are no longer going to remain silent - no matter what the Royal Family says."

"Only…" The headmistress interjected as if it was an afterthought. "It's a shame that the Farkas Family and the Kantarowitz Family will maintain their silence, despite the deaths of their youngest children." She then shrugged as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

Nari didn't know what to say anymore, but she hoped that the headmistress would let her leave already. She was not there to be the therapist for the person she personally disliked. "I understand that you're very passionate about your cause and that you want humans to continue growing, but is that all you wanted to talk about with me?" She waited patiently as she watched the ex-crusader's calm face suddenly change into one of insanity again. ' _Perhaps, I should have just shut up and humored her._ '

Lexi Abbot, however, simply smiled at her. "Now that I told you of my motivations… Maybe this will convince you to tell me what I really want to know." She approached the second year student and grabbed her shoulders tightly. Nari winced. "While I realized a little late that I was maybe a little too rough with you before… Too impatient… But since you understand me now, telling me wouldn't be that big of a deal, would it…?"

"And what exactly is your question?" The ice user took the headmistress' hands off of her shoulders roughly.

"What happened at the town?"

Nari shook her head. "Wrong question. Ask again."

"Why are you the only one alive?"

"That's also the wrong question to ask. Ask again." The headmistress narrowed her eyes at the ice user impatiently.

"Who saved you at the town?"

She sighed. "Wrong…"

"..." Lexi Abbot's eyes flickered of annoyance before realization set in. "...Are you under a different magic oath?"

"Yes." Nari answered plainly.

Horror and understanding both dawned on the headmistress' face. "Does it precede mine?"

"Yes." She hoped that this would deter the old woman from asking any further, but her wishes were dashed when the headmistress' eyes darkened considerably. It only seemed to go downhill from there.

Lexi Abbot finally reverted back to her old methods, despite knowing that her violent attitude only made the ice user clam up completely. "Then _break the damn oath._ There is no reason to keep such an oath when it won't help us further our cause." Nari Reyes had no idea as to why the headmistress considered her as an ally to her cause.

"I refuse to break the oath." She merely replied, rearranging her face to remain hard and cold. She tried her best to emulate Miyuki's confident composure during high-stress situations. While she did not have enough strength and power to defend herself last time, this time… This time, she refused to be treated like an object that could not protect itself.

"Are you going to keep going against me…? Are you really not going to tell me who saved you?!" Her voice rose at a higher pitch. Lexi Abbot's magic started to jump around the room like zaps. "Do I need to _sacrifice_ more people for my cause… To convince you to tell me…"

"YOU-" Before Nari could angrily insult the old woman, the secretary yelped from outside of the room as the door swung open. She turned her head, noticing three older men with stormy expressions. Nari stood there frozen. She wasn't sure what to do, so she emulated Shindo's casual but respectful posture when he had to act as leader with Miyuki.

"Do you not see that I'm having a personal meeting with a student…?" Lexi Abbot cooly addressed the three.

One of them stepped forward. His dark brown hair slicked back with a few bangs covering the side of his face. He wore a stern face, putting his hand on Nari's shoulder. There was something about him that seemed oddly familiar to her, but she couldn't pinpoint it yet. "Student, we have some urgent business with the headmistress. Would you mind leaving us for a while if it isn't anything of an emergency?"

She gave a curt bow to the older man. "It is _definitely_ nothing of an emergency. Go ahead and take as much time as you want-"

" _YOU LITTLE-"_ The headmistress grabbed her collar, pulling her back. Nari almost choked when the man hit the old woman's wrist, forcing her to drop her hold on the ice user.

Nari coughed violently and almost lost her balance when the same man stabilized her by the arm. "Ah, thank you very much… Uh…" She wasn't really knowledgeable about the Noble Five, so she wasn't sure who he was.

A red haired older male laughed jollily. "To think that we would meet someone who doesn't know much about us. She must be from the countryside." Nari didn't know whether she liked the implications of such words, but decided to let it go since it wasn't…particularly wrong.

"I am Miyuki Toku - the head of the Miyuki Family." The brown-haired man then answered. She noted the way he said his last name first and first name second.

Her eyes widened a little. ' _Oh shit. I didn't even recognize my boyfriend's father. I'm such an idiot-_ '

"And I am Mark Rombustelli. Also the head of my family and am in charge of the police force. A pleasure to meet you." The red-haired man bent down on one knee and gently placed his lips lightly on her hand. He stood up, smiling brightly.

"Shindo Ichirou." The stoic man with long black hair neatly cut that was then tied into a low ponytail murmured.

Instead of curtsying, Nari bowed low to them, expressing her thanks in educating her about their names. Mark Rombustelli looked interested in the composure of this female. "Tell me, girl. What's your name?"

Nari seemed to remember the manners that her grandma drilled into her in the past. She stood tall, keeping her eyes lowered to the ground. "Of course. My name is Nari Reyes - tied to Dietrich Reyes and Ting-Mei Reyes née Li through adoption. It's a pleasure to meet everyone." The head of the Rombustelli Family's eyes flashed with recognition, uncertainty, and then pity. She ignored him and was about to make her exit when she felt the headmistress going towards her again.

"ENOUGH!" The headmistress screeched, unwilling to believe that yet another disruption has occurred during her interrogation with Nari. She grabbed the icer user's arm tightly and pulled her towards her. They glared at each other with the tension rising in the room. Nari's magic immediately crackled in retaliation, warning the old woman to not go further. The temperature began to fall in seconds.

"Lexi Abbot," Nari's voice dropped low. From behind her, she could feel the heads of each family erect barriers to protect themselves. "Don't go too far or else you will surely regret it." She pulled the collar of the old woman's clothing towards her and whispered out, "You might have tried to take advantage of me when I was weak - both physically and mentally, but if you couldn't break me then, then you won't be able to break me now." She then gave a wicked smile at the person she disliked the most. "Actually, you'll never be able to break me. None of your words will convince me to tell you anything."

Anger brewed in the headmistress' eyes. Her magic also crackled around them dangerously. "Don't get too cocky, _child_. I have more than enough power and influence to destroy you with one word."

"Then destroy me. Kill me - _I dare you._ " She took a step back, facing the woman whose expression turned uglier. "In fact, I'll ask you this. _DO YOU DARE_?" The cold temperature finally froze the water in the cup that was on top of the headmistress' desk.

Did she dare? Did the headmistress have the guts to destroy her only source of information about that event? No, she would never. She could not. Lexi Abbot found herself in a distasteful situation. In front of the Noble Five, she could not make an effective move. In that case, she would have to try to control the background - the people who were equivalent to Gods in the eyes of the commoners. So she decided to say nothing at all.

Mark Rombustelli was close to whistling out of appreciation for the girl's guts and power, but stopped since it would be inappropriate to do as the head of his family. He kept quiet and wondered instead if he could pair her with his son. After all, his son needed someone with that kind of mental strength and maturity in the future if he were to become the next head, considering that boy's supposedly warm and sensitive personality. They would make a great pair. It helped that Nari was related to the most popular crusaders, despite being an adoptee.

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave now. I'm sure you have no rejections about that?" Nari raised her eyebrow at the old woman. She could clearly see how the headmistress was gritting her teeth, stopping herself from lashing out at the younger student. She turned her heel and flicked her hand to end the drop in temperature. The room returned to normal and her magic no longer crackled. She gave a respectful quick bow to the three men and walked out of the room without looking back.

"It seems like there was no need for us to help her." Miyuki Toku watched as his son's girlfriend left quite casually and confidently. It made him feel better about his son's choice. At first, when he learned her name and her ties with the dead crusaders, he worried about her ability to handle herself, but after seeing her deal with someone who had higher authority and power over her, he no longer was against his son's choice. In fact, he thought that his son had chosen better than he had. After all, Kazuya's previous arranged partner that Miyuki Toku personally chose for him... He ended that thought prematurely. Instead, his lips soon tugged into a small pleased smile before dropping back to its neutral expression.

* * *

When Nari turned the corner, she sensed danger coming to her side. She dodged by jumping forward and rolling safely. The moment she was about to see where the source of the magic bullet attack came from, someone's arm blocked her way. They cornered her in a corner with their arms blocking both exits. She muttered under her breath. "I don't appreciate you doing this to me, Philomena Schulz."

"It would be more appropriate for you to call me Schulz _-sensei, child_." The defense magic teacher's eyes darkened in displeasure. The ice user sighed. She was getting tired of all this. It was the same old - _each and every single time_.

"I thought that we would never see each other after you forced me into that magic oath with the headmistress." Nari glared. "To think that you would try to attack me though when my guard is down… You're a coward as always, following the headmistress like a lost puppy and then trying to control me. It's your own incompetence and lack of insight that will be your downfall." Before the defense magic teacher could punish the girl for her behavior, someone clapped behind them. She turned around, startled that someone was there. After all, she did not sense anyone near them. "Who are you."

The young man stood tall with his short messy hair almost glimmering under the sunlight; his dark ruby red hair appeared soft as it almost seemed to ripple from the gentle wind. His red purple sharp eyes focused on the two, but instead of looking threatening, he held a warm expression on his face with his playful but innocent smile. If it wasn't for his obvious well-toned body that was easily seen through his tight shirt, they would have thought of him as harmless. It was then when his big hand casually held his sword that hung from his belt. They could tell at first glance that he was a knight - perhaps part of the special force for one of the noble families. They just weren't sure which one he was a part of though.

"No one of importance. I'm just here to visit my little sister and to accompany my father while he's visiting the headmistress." The young man laughed lightly. He walked over to Nari quite casually, almost pushing the teacher to the side. Feeling a bit disgruntled, the defense magic teacher immediately left without saying anything else. He leaned towards her and she leaned back. "You're quite interesting though, trying to go against higher authority."

She furrowed her eyebrows in frustration, not wanting to deal with anymore people for today. All she wanted was to be with Miyuki and cuddle with him for once in her life. She wanted to be spoiled by him to get rid of the bad aftertaste of meeting the defense magic teacher and the headmistress in one day. "It's called being rebellious and following my values. Now if you'll excuse me…"

He grabbed her arm, stopping her effectively. "My name is Alger Rombustelli. It's a pleasure to meet you." She blinked, absorbing the information that she just heard from him.

She then turned around and gave him a respectful bow. "Nari. Nari Reyes. Nice to meet you too. I didn't realize that you were Mariana's older brother. I apologize for my rudeness."

He laughed and smiled at her softly. "No, it's okay. Are you my sister's friend?"

"I'm her new teammate. Would you like me to guide you to my place? I'm sure she would love to see you." She asked casually.

His face brightened at her suggestion. "That would be great. I'll send a message to my father then. Give me a second." He whistled, letting out an eagle of his magic to send a message to Mark Rombustelli. "Then shall we go?"

She almost sighed with relief, but managed to get herself to nod in agreement instead. ' _Finally I get to go back home… I can't wait to see everyone again - even though it hasn't been a full day yet._ '

* * *

"So this is my older brother, Alger Rombustelli." Mariana introduced her brother with a very… _interesting_ look on her face. She seemed to not care that he was there to visit her. In fact, she appeared to be mildly unimpressed that he even thought that it was a good idea to see her _now_. Alger gave a dry laugh to break the awkwardness between them.

"Hmm…" Miyuki stared at the male with vague disinterest as Nari ran over to hug Hotaru tightly.

"I'm sorry." Nari whispered to her best friend. Even though Hotaru looked way better than when she left, she still couldn't help but feel a little guilty towards her friend. After all, she only did all that in the best of her interests. While it was not a good thing at the time, she felt as though she had hurt her best friend badly. Usually, if it was someone she could care less about, she would have explained further about why she acted like that, but since Hotaru probably already knew the reason, she only apologized.

"It's okay… You don't need to apologize." Hotaru hugged her friend back - relieved that she was safe and not hurt. After both friends whispered affirmations of their friendship together, they glanced at the newcomer. Hotaru's eyes shimmered with awe. Nari giggled - _giggled for once_. Mariana almost smirked at the two knowingly. Shindo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Miyuki glanced at the three females warily. He was already a little creeped out that his so-called _sister_ looked at Mariana's older brother in such… _admiration_ if that was the best way to put it, but he found it horrible when Nari giggled because what could that possibly mean… He had no idea. For someone like her to laugh in such a way, it made him wonder if she drank some alcohol before coming here or if she really thought of the Rombustelli heir as physically attractive. The latter made him feel possessive about keeping her thoughts to himself. That was expelled when he felt her hand slip into his. She leaned against him comfortably.

Alger approached the two. "So you two are…" He still hoped that she just held a one-sided love towards the Miyuki heir, but considering the way he did not shake her away, he felt doubtful.

"Yes." Miyuki confirmed as though subtly warning the male to stay away from his girlfriend. "We're together." She sleepily drew circles on the back of his hand with her thumb as though comforting herself. He pulled up her hand and kissed the back of it gently. He smiled at her as she cocked her head to the side questioningly. When his gaze turned soft and warm, she smiled back at him shyly.

Disappointment lingered in Alger's eyes. "It's been a while since we last met, Miyuki- _san_. I didn't know that you had such a wonderful girlfriend…" He paused, considering whether to make his next move.

" _Aa_." Miyuki wasn't really that interested in talking to the heir of the Rombustelli Family. After all, it was only a pretense that the heirs of the Noble Five had to make when they saw each other, unless they were close friends, which they clearly weren't.

Alger decided to continue talking. "The last one you were with was-" Before he could say anything further, Mariana whacked him on the head. Nari heard the implications of his words, but didn't seem to react the way he wanted her to. She just stayed silent and relaxed, despite that one twitch. He supposed that there would be no trouble in paradise for the two, so he gave up.

"Stupid brother! Why the heck would you say anything like that?!" Mariana reproached him furiously. He scratched the back of his head, smiling wryly at her. He sometimes wondered if his little sister and his mother conditioned him to feel more attracted to strong-willed women. He finally decided to keep quiet as he let his little sister update him about her life so far.

"I'm surprised that you're not asking about my past." Miyuki whispered to her as he leaned against her.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not a big deal. If you both aren't together, then it obviously didn't work out, so why should I worry? It's not like you still love her. And if you did, you would have told me before asking me to be your girlfriend." She didn't realize it then, but her words gave him great relief. As he thought, like-minded people were the best, especially when they were lovers. Communication was absolutely flawless.

* * *

"It looks like you've been doing well, Kazuya." Miyuki's father, Miyuki Toku, glanced at his son and then looked out the window. He stood tall, but his figure appeared lonely. It reminded Miyuki that his father was no longer young. Without having his mother by his side, he had to walk the adulthood by himself. That was something that Miyuki hoped he would never have to personally experience. However, he admired the way his father still loved his dead mother and refused to marry again.

"If you needed to tell me something, you could have sent me a message. There was no need to do a fancy invitation." Miyuki replied, knowing how busy his own father was with his work. Their job was nothing to laugh about. It was dark, heavy, and solemn - never talked about among the commoners. The only people who talked about their department were ones who worked for the government, but even then, it was not often. In a way, it could be considered to be the highest authorized department in the government. The amount of secrecy and strength in the department was unknowable but immense. However, they were looked upon with gratitude and awe when known. Miyuki's father was in charge of such a department - the Department of Covert & Clandestine Operations; it was sometimes referred to as the Covert Operatives Squad. It was the department that primarily dealt with infiltration into enemy territory, handling extremely powerful demons, tracking spies, surveillance, and anything that had to do with protecting the country from high-risk threats.

"I would like to see you once in a while if I get the chance…" Miyuki Toku looked a bit sad and worn down from his job. "I also…" He paused before continuing. "I saw your choice. She seemed to be much better for you than that other girl. But..."

Miyuki waited for his father to get to the point. "But…?"

"Don't be with someone you will not be with in the long-term." Miyuki Toku's eyes narrowed on his son. "You are the heir to the Miyuki Family after all."

"Not to worry. I am seeing her with the intention of marriage in mind. We might be young, but she's worth my time." He reassured his father. "I don't want to be in another arranged marriage meeting with someone when I have her."

Miyuki Toku held a rare content smile before it faded away. "In that case, I will accept your will. Just know that I have nothing against your choice since I trust the current you and I personally prefer this girl over your previous lover."

Miyuki gave a wry smile. "Ada Farkas…"

"I'm glad that you no longer are associated with her. I never knew what you saw in her when you decided to accept her invitation to be her arranged partner, but as long as she doesn't bother you anymore, we won't have to think about her existence. After all, someone who betrays is never acceptable, especially for the Miyuki Family. If only I didn't introduce her to you in the first place..." For once, storms of anger and bitterness brewed in Miyuki's father's eyes. "I'm regretful that I didn't spot such horrible traits when I first met her."

"We already retracted the engagement papers. They can't do anything to us when they were the ones who broke the promise." Miyuki brought up. The anger that his father emitted earlier disappeared. "I place a high importance on loyalty like you, father, so it's better that we found out about it earlier than later."

"You're right. I hope to never see a single hair from that girl." Miyuki Toku's eyes flickered with displeasure before a serene expression took place. "While your love for that Ada girl was just puppy love...infatuation… The way you seem to like this new girl reminds me of the way I chose and loved your mother…" Miyuki didn't confirm or deny his father's thoughts; after all, if that helped his father to look favorably upon his girlfriend, then that was good enough for now.

Miyuki then asked. "No one supported you because of her weak health and sickness, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't care and I still don't care. In fact, I'm happy that I still chose her and would never want to change that - no matter how it ended. Even if she died from her illness while giving birth to you, I hold no regrets about my choice. We lived happily for a long time after all - before deciding to have you." He admitted quietly to his son. It was the first time that his father opened up to him in such a long manner. He supposed that it was thanks to his new girlfriend, even if it was indirectly. Miyuki smiled pleasantly to his father.

* * *

"Is there something that you want me to know about, _oyaji_?" Shindo leaned against the wall.

"...Your mother," he paused, unwilling to admit that he can't go against his wife at all, "Your mother told me to tell you that you should take a look at the arranged marriage meeting partner lists and to choose one of them."

"..." Shindo knew that his father was weak against his mother, despite the fact that both were competent people. It could be because his mother is a straightforward person, compared to his father, but his father only obeyed his wife over anyone else. He would probably obey his wife first, even if the king asked him to do something at the same time. This is what Shindo thought to himself amusedly. "Tell mother that I do not want to join any of these meetings… None of them perk my interest. Plus, what if I end up with a girl like Ada Farkas? I'd rather kill myself than be with a lying cheater."

"Your older brother, Daichi, already found a beautiful engagement partner." His father then pointed out. "I think it's time that you settled down and found someone for yourself. You've casually dated here and there for a while, but your mother and I have never heard of you pursuing anything more than that."

"..." Shindo frowned at the knowledge that his parents kept tabs on him.

"While we were not against it in the beginning, since you do need experience on how to pleasure your partner, but now that you're sixteen, we want you to start looking for someone to be with." Shindo couldn't believe that he was hearing this from his silent father - the respectable person who is in charge of the Secret Intelligence Department. His mother could definitely work miracles when it comes to his father - although he definitely doesn't want to know why or how she does it. This was the first time that his father said more than one word to him, so it was a little shocking to him; it almost made him wonder if he was starting to see and hear things.

"...What if I already have someone in mind?" Shindo suggested, looking for any kind of approval or hints as to what his parents were thinking.

"In that case, you better hurry because there is only so much that I can do to stop your mother from trying to pair you up with people." That was all his father said before silence fell in the room once more indefinitely.

* * *

Shindo strode into main room only seeing Hotaru there with a sandwich, and so he smiled; perfect opportunity.

"It's time we talked, Hotaru."

For a second, she looked up in confusion - and then it morphed into panic, and finally settled into an uneasy walled expression.

He observed this with a sinking feeling turning the smile on his face into his 'polite' one; not off to a good start...

Sitting on an armchair - despite the fact that the couch only had Hotaru on it - Shindo leaned forward on his knees and glanced at her. "I don't think I can wait any longer, and I need an answer."

Placing the plate to the side, Hotaru closed her eyes and sat up straight, inhaling and exhaling. "... Okay."

Shindo couldn't help the surprise that came across his face - by the look of things, he was sure she was going to reject him. "... Why?"

Opening her eyes, she looked at him in certain unease. "Why what?..."

"Why did you accept?"

"Because the things holding me back are stupid," she said, her voice harsh, as if she was pushing back what had made her hesitant forcefully. Her head once fell, and her posture became more rigid and protective. "... And I don't want to lose you, you're worth a risk, so… I, I decided that I shouldn't run, from you." And then she looked up, at him. Her eyes sparkled with a hesitant determination as she smiled.

* * *

"Of course. I can see why you think that, Lexi…" The queen, Rashida Adebowale, smiled affectionately at her old friend, picking up a cookie from a plate with her dark-skinned fingers. Her afro springy hair fluffed out to the sides, but they fell perfectly in the same location as before no matter how much she shook her head or moved around. Her almond-shaped eyes glistened with joy towards her friend. The last time they talked was after the death of the two ex-crusaders; after all, the headmistress took on the role to inform the royal family about the tragedy. So it was refreshing to talk about something else - even though it was about Lexi Abbot's newest interest.

"Yes, so this is why it is best if we continued the war against the demons." The headmistress smiled brightly at the queen, who seemed to have been swayed by the old woman's words.

"My king," the queen held onto the king's arm loosely. He smiled gently at her. He touched his bald head for a second. "What do you think?"

"Hmm… She isn't wrong…" The king, Yafeu Adebowale, soon tapped his finger on top of the table casually, showing that he was thinking deeply on the subject. This unnerved the crown prince who sat with them; in his own opinion, he could not imagine such a future being good for the citizens. Were his parents going to ignore the sufferings and hardships of the citizens for their own greedy desires? He refused to let such a thing happen. While he never believed his parents to be motivated by such shallow wishes, he could never be too sure whenever the headmistress came by. That was why he tried his best to keep the old woman away from his parents at recent time, but this time… His efforts proved futile.

The crown prince interjected, "But father-"

When the king slammed his hand against the table, the prince kept quiet. "Crown Prince, leave before you test my patience." It was clear that the king no longer cared for the opinions of his own son. Truly, the headmistress never seemed like a good influence for his parents. Even Mushirah Kantarowitz, the head of the Kantarowitz Family and the Royal Advisor, disliked the headmistress... If they refused to listen to their own advisor - who is part of the Noble Five, then what hope do they have left?

The crown prince just gave a curt bow to them and then left the room in a hurry. They had to deal with this situation effectively and immediately. So he headed for his best friends' usual hideout. Because they all worked in the palace together, they were able to hang out like always without separating. It made it easier for them because that way, they would not have to send messages to each other to meet up because everyone knew each other's schedules by heart. "Alger. Daichi." The crown prince gave a boyish smile to his two best friends - both of whom were heirs to their family.

Alger Rombustelli and Shindo Daichi smiled back at their best friend. "Dakarai Adebowale - our best man." Alger bumped his fist with the crown prince.

"Yea-" Before Daichi could give him a fist-bump too, he fell on his face. "Augh." The two sighed, understanding that this was a normal occurance for their odd friend. It was a wonder as to how his fiancée agreed to be with him. They supposed that it was due to his intelligence and somewhat wise personality. "I'm okay."

"Yeah, we know. Your head is hard as a rock. I'm starting to wonder if it's even possible for you to lose any of your brain cells and somehow become less intelligent in the future." Alger shrugged, rolling his eyes. "And then your little brother will take your place."

" _You know_ …" Shindo Daichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully; he still didn't get up from the floor. "Maybe I should… Then my future wife will have less things to deal with… I mean they'll still have to work together - my little bro's wife and mine - as leaders of the Cultural Preservation Department, but the final decisions will be left for the one who marries the heir of the family..."

Alger whacked Daichi on the head as he fell back down on his face. The crown prince just sighed and shook his head at their antics. "Don't be an idiot."

Daichi stood back up at such a fast speed that it almost even impressed Alger. "HEY, AT LEAST, I WASN'T THE ONE TRYING TO GET IN BETWEEN A COUPLE!"

Alger turned red. He was a bit embarrassed that he did that in the first place. "BUT THAT WAS BECAUSE SHE-"

"NO EXCUSES, YOU HOMEWRECKER!" Daichi jumped on Alger's back, choking him from behind.

"YOU BASTARD, AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE MY BEST FRIEND?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING ME A HOMEWRECKER?!" Alger tried to get him off his back and pleaded to the crown prince for help, but the crown prince just shrugged and looked on with amusement. They were the perfect stress relievers. "DAMMIT DAKARAI! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIEND TOO!"

"Daichi has a point though." Prince Dakarai shrugged again and sat down on a chair comfortably. "Please do go on."

"But I thought that I would never meet someone like her in the future and if they break up over me, then clearly, that means that their relationship wasn't strong enough to last anyways…" Alger grumbled as he glared at Daichi who grinned playfully at him. "Jackass."

"And yet, we're still best buddies." Daichi jumped off Alger's back and stared to jump around in a hyperactive manner, forcing the other two to jump around with him. They sighed as they joined their friend in his very energetic mood.

While they were hopping around like bunnies, Alger glanced at Dakarai before asking. "So what's up? You have something that you're worried about, aren't you?"

"Ah, of course you would notice." The crown prince smiled sadly. "I do have some worries, but I'm not sure what to do yet."

Daichi finally stopped forcing them to jump and made everyone sit down instead. "So tell us. And we'll figure it out together. We've done that since school as a team. So we can always do it again." He pat the crown prince on the back. "Don't worry! We got your back, bro. Don't we always cover for each other's mistakes anyways?"

Dakarai spoke in a purposeful manner. "Well… The headmistress came by to visit my parents-"

"That doesn't sound like good shit." Daichi briefly commented.

Alger snorted. "As if we didn't know that already, Daichi."

"Anyways, she is trying to convince my parents to break the peace that we have right now and continue the war against the demons by destroying them now - to catch them off-guard." The crown prince's eyes darkened.

"So we should find evidence that shows that the headmistress is either doing shady things or doesn't deserve your parents' trust?" Alger suggested. Daichi's face perked up at that. "But that's a bit difficult since the headmistress is always at her school and we don't have many excuses to go there often…"

"If only we knew someone trustworthy who could infiltrate or dig into the school for us…" The crown prince crammed his head to think about potential people he could ask. "But most have conflicting interests and wouldn't agree that easily…"

"How about my little brother?" Daichi finally asked. "I can get him to ask for help from the Kantarowitz Family for us - since it's not like he has much to do anyways, and maybe I'll ask the Miyuki heir for help too since he has connections to the Farkas Family. Though… Their past connections might be a bit shaky, thanks to that Ada girl…"

"Yeah, go ask your brother. More like order him to do it as the heir of the family - rather than as his older brother - because then… He can't disobey you." Alger smirked. "I'm sure that'll keep your hands filled, so I'll ask Miyuki-"

Daichi pulled on Alger's collar roughly and shook him hard. "I'LL ASK THE MIYUKI HEIR BECAUSE YOU'RE A HOMEWRECKER AND-"

Alger was just about to swing his sheathed sword at his best friend. "I SWEAR IF YOU CALL ME HOMEWRECKER ONE MORE TIME, THEN I'LL-"

"BUT YOU WANT TO GO SEE THE MIYUKI HEIR TO SEE HIS GIRLFRIEND, DON'T YOU?!" Daichi ran around them in circles as he threw his hands up in the air out of exasperation.

Alger stomped on the ground roughly a couple of times. "WELL YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT, BUT WHAT IS SO SINFUL ABOUT WANTING TO SEE HER?! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M GOING TO GO FOR HER ANYMORE!" He jabbed his finger at the Shindo heir who hid behind the sighing crown prince.

Daichi stuck out his tongue before taunting the Rombustelli heir some more for fun. "YOU WANTING TO SEE HER WHILE HER BOYFRIEND IS THERE IS THE SIN AND IS ACTUALLY DISRESPECTFUL TO THE MIYUKI HEIR! HE'S NOT THAT STUPID, YOU KNOW! HOW WILL THAT MAKE HIM SAY YES TO OUR REQUEST?!" Despite Daichi's weird actions when paired with the words he actually said, there was much to think about. Alger finally calmed down and came to an agreement.

"I suppose I wouldn't be the best person to go ask the Miyuki heir then…" The Rombustelli heir seemed a bit crestfallen. Daichi patted his back comfortingly.

"Don't worry. I'll go see the Miyuki boy's girlfriend for myself - just to see why you're so smitten with her after meeting her only once." Shindo's older brother grinned. "You know. It's kind of creepy to be so in love with her already."

"DAMN YOU. I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HER! I JUST FIND HER A BIT ATTRACTIVE!" Alger threw his hands up in frustration.

The crown prince finally interrupted the two. "Anyways, since this concerns a great matter… And he is the heir to the Miyuki Family… I will ask him myself or else it will be disrespectful towards him. And I refuse to make our relations to get off on a bad start." His two best friends gave him a hard pat on the back as he grinned rather freely at them. They threw him a thumbs up to show their approval of his decision. It was then when Dakarai knew once again that he could truly trust his best friends to relieve him of his stress and of his worries in a jiffy.

* * *

"If it wasn't for my brother, I wouldn't have to be standing in front of these gates…" Shindo grumbled a little under his breath, feeling a bit resentful towards his carefree older brother, Daichi.

"Shindo _-sama_ , please follow me." The maid directed him to follow her into the huge property. While he wasn't easily intimidated by the size of the place, he was still in what he liked to call, _enemy territory_. He kept his cool.

"I can do this." He muttered under his breath. This was his first job - given to him by the crown prince through his older brother. His future might depend on this. He would not fail. He would get the Kantarowitz Family to help them no matter what.

"We are here." The maid bowed to him as she opened the door to a rather large room. In the middle, a young man sat impeccably in his seat, sipping on his tea and not focusing on the visitor. "Kantarowitz- _wakasama_ , our guest is here."

It was the eldest son, Ghazi, of the Kantarowitz Family - a family that was known for his mother, who worked as both the royal advisor and as the head of the family, along with his uncle who managed the medical department as a replacement for their deceased leader - his father. "Hmm… You can leave us now."

"Yes sir." The maid bowed again before shutting the door.

"Shindo… Yoh." Ghazi glanced at the male with vague disinterest. "What do you want?"

"To impede a future disaster." Shindo kept it as unclear as possible in hopes that it would perk the man's interest. "Trouble is starting to brew."

"So what is it that you want from me?" The Kantarowitz heir leaned against his chair, still looking disinterested.

"Help us stop the disaster from coming." Shindo wondered why the crown prince couldn't order the Kantarowitz heir to aid in their mission, but there were always factors to consider, so he no longer lingered over such thoughts. "In other words, we need information from you."

"...Hm…" Ghazi stared at Shindo thoughtfully. "Then let's do something fun before I accept or reject anything."

"A wager?" Shindo asked.

"Yes. I never got to test out my youngest brother's skills in fighting since he died at the maze, so I think I'll use you as a test subject instead. But of course, to make it more… interesting… We'll make a wager." Ghazi grinned mischievously. "Let's do a pure martial arts battle with no magic involved. If you win, then the Kantarowitz Family will be obligated to always help the Shindo Family no matter what once I become the new head. If I win, then you will give me the person who is most important to you. After all, I recently heard that you got yourself a cute girlfriend…" While the heir seemed to thankfully hold zero interest in Hotaru herself, Shindo knew in that very moment that Ghazi only wanted to provoke the younger brother of Shindo Daichi - all to test his temperament.

Most people did not have the guts to protect what was theirs or what they found to be the most important to them. In other words, Ghazi was asking Shindo if he had the courage and strength to defend and protect his loved ones.

Shindo decided to rise up to the challenge. "I accept..." Ghazi stood up from his chair with eagerness to fight flaring in his eyes. Shindo grinned in response, wanting to fight against the Kantarowitz heir already.

"Then… LET'S BEGIN!" Ghazi ran towards Shindo at a quick pace, ready to end the battle in seconds, but Shindo blocked and made his next move to attack. Each of their blows were heavy and precise; it was only a matter of time before stamina and willpower dwindled. At that point, it would be a battle over who had the most stamina and willpower. So in other words, the winner would most likely be the person with more stamina and willpower.

Once they got a few more blows in, they both immediately recognized who would be the winner of this fight. "Well this is not going to be fun." Ghazi breathed out.

"But let's not stop already, okay?" Shindo politely encouraged his opponent who already looked dead tired.

"Fine." The Kantarowitz heir grumbled under his breath, not wanting to appear too weak.

* * *

Miyuki stood in front of the gates that he had hoped to never go back to. It was the Farkas Family's estate.

As he was led by the butler to the eldest son's room in silence, he wondered if he should have declined the crown prince's request. The moment he entered the room, the eldest son had his back facing him. The sound of chess piece hitting the board echoed throughout the room.

"Well, well, well… If it isn't the bastard." The eldest son, Ulbrecht Farkas, sneered at the younger male. "What does the Miyuki heir want from me?"

"Drop the act." Miyuki's eyes darkened. "You have no right to act like that when it was your family who broke the contract."

"True, but it doesn't mean that I need to like you." The older man childishly snarled.

"Show me respect, Farkas heir. I am not here out of my own accord. I am only here because a member of the royal family asked me to see you, so do not presume that you are even worth a smudge of my time." Miyuki approached Ulbrecht casually. "Do you really think that you should try to worsen the relations between our families? After all… You should use that brain of yours and think. Once I take over my father's position and you with your mother's... Your Royal Guards against my Covert Operatives Squad. Who do you think will win? Who do you think will be valued the most during a time of crisis?"

Ulbrecht bit his bottom lip, glaring at the younger man hatefully. "You…"

"So hold your tongue and be aware that your actions and your words are being followed by everyone, whether you like that or not. While your sister can freely follow her whims, such as having affairs, you cannot." Miyuki sat in a chair across from him as he set up the chess board. "Of course, we can make this easier on us."

"...What." The Farkas heir spat out.

"We can play one chess game. If I win, then the Farkas Family will always help the Miyuki Family from now on. If you win, then my family will always help yours from now on. What do you think? It's not that bad of a wager." Miyuki looked pleased when Ulbrecht seemed to consider it heavily. "So do you accept my challenge, Ulbrecht Farkas?"

Since the Farkas heir never heard from anyone if Miyuki was good at playing the game or not, he lowered his head and smiled to himself in a delighted manner. He finally looked up at him confidently and said, "I accept your challenge, Miyuki Kazuya."

* * *

It had been a month since the school resumed its activities and classes. It had also been a month since the crown prince enlisted the help of others to orchestrate the downfall of the headmistress.

However, things had not settled down in the royal court. The headmistress was pushed down to the ground harshly. The queen and king held stern expressions, not revealing their thoughts to their subordinates.

" _Do you know what you did wrong, Lexi Abbot?!_ " The king's voice roared across the room. Standing in a row on each side were the Noble Five with a few missing, such as Ghazi Kantarowitz's uncle who is temporarily in charge of the medical department and Theodore Farkas who held no particular role, except for raising the Farkas Family members as their father. Closest to the Royal Family from each side were the Kantarowitz Family and the Farkas Family. Mushirah Kantarowitz, the Royal Advisor and the head of the Kantarowitz Family, stood confidently, facing Elizabeth Farkas - the leader of the Royal Guards and the head of the Farkas Family.

Next were the Rombustelli Family and the Miyuki Family. Mark Rombustelli stood tall as the head of the Rombustelli Family and as the leader of the police force. Across from him stood Miyuki Toku who is the leader of the Covert Operatives Squad. A tall woman with a lazy disposition was on her feet right beside the head of the Miyuki Family; it was Miyuki's aunt - the temporary leader of the Research & Development Department, which is also known as the R&D Department. Another woman standing across from Miyuki's aunt smiled at the Miyuki Family favorably. It was Lauren Rombustelli, who is in charge of the Treasury.

The last family - the Shindo Family - stood with the Miyuki Family. Shindo Ichirou - the head of the Shindo Family and the leader of the Secret Intelligence Department - glanced at the fallen headmistress with vague disinterest. When Shindo Chiha, the leader of the Cultural Preservation Department, nudged him with her elbow, he finally looked on with lots of fake interest. She smiled wryly at her husband. The moment he started to look sleepy, she pinched his side and he stood upright in response. He stared even harder at the headmistress, but his stare ended up looking like a harsh glare.

"I have done nothing wrong, my king." Lexi Abbot did her best to maintain her dignity at the court. "Please enlighten me on my wrongdoings."

The king huffed. "I will allow my son and the heirs of the Noble Five explain."

Crown Prince Dakarai Adebowale, Shindo Daichi, Alger Rombustelli, Ghazi Kantarowitz, Ulbrecht Farkas, and Miyuki Kazuya stood behind the headmistress as they approached the king and the queen. Dakarai walked some more until he was in front of everyone. "Lexi Abbot has committed two heinous crimes."

Shindo Daichi came up to the front. "First, there has been solid evidence found that she was involved in the death of the two ex-crusaders. While we thought the demons were the ones who killed the two ex-crusaders, that could not be possible when the ex-crusaders were level 3 and the demons there were only level 1."

Miyuki Kazuya also walked up to the two. "Not to mention, there has been very faint signs of magic being used that did not belong to any of the townspeople and the ex-crusaders. The fact that Lexi Abbot was the one in charge of bringing backup to save the town but arrived really late is another thing to consider." He then brought up another interesting point. "Demons are relatively peaceful creatures. If they were to be consumed by bloodlust, it would be due to being controlled by a higher leveled demon outlier. We have reason to believe that Lexi Abbot decided to work with that demon in order to start a new war between the demons and the humans." Before anyone could ask if they had evidence, he confirmed, "We are not just making assumptions. We have evidence to prove that this is the case." The fact that the Miyuki heir was the youngest out of them all did not escape anyone's notice, but he handled it beautifully - as expected of Miyuki Toku's son.

Alger Rombustelli straightened his shirt and then bellowed, "AND THEN THERE IS THE SITUATION AT THE MAZE EVENT." He glared at the old woman who withered after hearing news that they found evidence for her involvement in the ex-crusaders' deaths. "She was the one who checked the safety of the maze and yet, how is it possible that she - a level 3 - did not sense the presence of demons?!"

"There is obviously something sinister going on here." Ulbrecht Farkas sneered at Abbot. "So we conducted investigations in the maze once more and we found an oddly familiar magic signature as the one from the town where the ex-crusaders lived."

Ghazi Kantarowitz said in a clear voice, "With the help of my uncle, we conducted autopsies on the bodies of the youngest sons of the Kantarowitz Family and the Farkas Family. Obviously with the permission from the heads. The results of both will for sure be of great interest to you."

The Crown Prince then concluded, "While Lexi Abbot is sent to prison, we will show you all of our evidences for both crimes one-by-one. So please give us your order!" They all bowed towards the king, going down on one knee as they held their hands in front of them together. Their right hand was in a fist and their left hand was straight as their fist met the palm of that open hand.

The king motioned to the guards. "Take her away."

"King Yafeu Adebowale! Queen Rashida Adebowale!" The headmistress teared up. She watched as the queen turned her head away. The king looked upon with stern eyes. "I haven't done anything wrong!" She screeched.

He slammed his fist against the arm of his chair loudly. Everyone froze in their spot. The king snarled at his old friend who betrayed him, "Do not test me, _woman_. I'll have you know that if their evidences are all reasonable, then you will get the public execution order."

At those words, Abbot cried out loud, screaming for mercy. As soon as the guards handcuffed her that bound her magic, not allowing her to use any, she changed her tune. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! I WON'T FORGIVE ANY OF YOU!" She laughed crazily as the king shook his head in disappointment. "I'LL MAKE SURE TO GET MY REVENGE! YOU'LL DEFINITELY REGRET THIS! YOU DEFINITELY WILL!"

* * *

"It's time for the public execution of Lexi Abbot!" A man cried out, throwing the flyers into the air. Everyone started to grab at them, wondering what the excitement was about.

"What?! My favorite crusader is actually that kind of person…" Some sobbed at the news.

Others scoffed. "I knew that was going to happen. I had a feeling that she was the one who killed Ting-Mei and Dietrich."

"Finally, they got the perpetrator who let out the demons in the maze…" Another group sighed in relief.

The headmistress who no longer looked dignified appeared exhausted and almost lifeless. People threw stones and spat at her face as she walked in between the crowds. None of them hit her though because she was surrounded by a barrier that the guard set up beforehand. The moment she was thrown to the middle of the stadium, hungry lions walked around her purposefully, testing to see if they could play with her before biting into her flesh. She sat without moving.

It was only when the lions began to jump on her that she moved quickly on her feet, dodging their attacks as she thought of ways to escape. Realizing that there was no way she could escape with her life, she came to one conclusion - to release the one who haunted her since the past.

She unleashed a powerful spell that would only be used as a last-resort, breaking the chains that restrained her. Her magic crackled around her and she threw her hands up into the air. "I will let this world be destroyed. If you make me die, then I will not be the only one to fall." The guards couldn't get close to her as she set up a barrier around herself. " _Ancient one, hear my cry! I sacrifice my life and body to you as you rise up from the ground and drink my flesh. Rule the living and torment the dead as they fuse into one with the ashes of the forest. Become the last darkness that man has ever beheld. SO COME TO ME AND DEVOUR MY MAGIC, O' ANCIENT ONE!_ "

The sky above them turned dark as lightning began to crash down on the ground around her. The winds fiercely blew away the people in her vicinity. Screams of those in the stadium permeated the air. The clouds covered up the sun, leaving behind only darkness. The last of the headmistress' magic soon dissipated as her barrier faded away. Before Abbot was about laugh triumphantly, the lightning struck her fiercely, making her cry out in pain. She couldn't even continue because a series of lightning struck her without mercy.

In just a few minutes, the headmistress' body laid in the middle of the stadium - all black and charred. Suddenly, a purple fog covered up the entire city and town nearby. It didn't seem to be anything bad, so no one worried, but once the fog went away, the sun shined brightly once more and the stormy clouds had faded away. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief.

Whatever Lexi Abbot tried to do, it obviously failed, so everyone went on with their lives as the guards cleaned up the burnt mess of the headmistress' corpse and the stadium.

* * *

"This coronation ceremony better not take too long. I refuse to sit here for long hours at a time." One of the students cried out, feeling annoyed at the unnecessary time it took to complete the ceremonies.

Another whispered to the other. "I heard that the new defense magic teacher and the new magical theory teacher are both from another country! AND that the number of accolades they hold are apparently thousands!"

"Thousands?! Oh wow…" They whispered furiously back.

"But does anyone know why Schulz _-sensei_ got fired?" A younger student piped up.

The older student sighed before answering. "Didn't you hear? Apparently she was lovers with the headmistress… You know, the one who got executed recently? Well thanks to that ex-headmistress of ours, Philomena Schulz commited a few crimes for her lover, so that's why she got fired."

"Damn, that's some heavy stuff right there." Another interrupted with a sharp whistle.

The older student rolled their eyes. "Tell me about it, but I am excited about Widjaya- _sensei_ becoming our new headmaster though." Their expression brightened up.

The younger student shrugged in response. "Honestly, I'm dreading it because I really enjoyed his magical theory classes… and I don't know if the new teacher will be up to par with his."

"You have a point there… Adi Widjaya - the best magical theory teacher of all time." The older student almost threw up their hands in the air to exaggerate their words.

"Stop it! You're making me laugh too hard." The younger student held their stomach, trying to stop themselves from laughing too much.

One of them softly said, "Makes me wish that could speed up this whole ceremony."

"So true…" The older student patted their shoulder comfortingly.

* * *

"It's been a week since Lexi Abbot died from the execution order." Nari informed her grandparents as she stood in front of the ruined house. "But I feel like things are going to get worse from here on out." From a distance, the rest of the team were checking out the town since only Miyuki was there the last time to visit.

They arrived at the hotel just last night and came to the destroyed town early in the morning like previously. So it was not strange to see fog thickening up in the town. To her, it reminded her of the past when she tried to play outside with her grandma. She grinned, remembering the way her grandma would try to entice her with her food to get her to play outside because she refused to play outside when it was hot outside.

" _Nari, it's foggy outside. Let's play outside, okay? It's not good to always stay indoors!" Ting-Mei Reyes held out a baked chicken leg for the delicious smell to entice her adopted child to go outside. "And we can eat some delicious food together."_

" _Grams, I don't like getting sweaty and it's not time for physical training yet." Nari groaned, covering her face with her book._

" _Oh, stop acting like you're my age and let's go!" Her grandma stuffed the chicken leg back into the container. "We need to see the sunrise in time!"_

 _Nari sighed and tried to convince her to let her sleep longer with the book on her face. "But it's such a long way from here-"_

" _Nari… I'll teach you more healing magic." The small child threw the book to the side and soon got ready for their short trip. Ting-Mei gave a short laugh before holding onto Nari's arm as they left the house._

Nari shook her head, stopping herself from remembering the past. "You know… Today is the coronation ceremony for the new headmaster. We were also supposed to be introduced to the new magical theory and defense magic teacher, but… I wasn't really interested in it, so I came to visit you both instead. I'm a rebel as always, aren't I?"

That was when the thick fog suddenly consumed everyone. Nari turned her head to see what was going on, not expecting the fog to act in such a way. In seconds, she felt a presence in front of her. "Kazuya…? Shindo? Hotaru- _chan_? Mariana?" When she heard no one, an odd feeling settled in her stomach.

" _Do you remember…the oath_... _?_ " She heard a familiar soothing voice ringing in her ears. " _It is time...that you fulfill your side of the promise, Nari Reyes._ "

As the fog began to split, revealing the person before her, she stared at him incredulously. "You're…"

A tall dark long-haired male stood quietly as he waited for her to reply properly. From behind them, they both heard the warning shouts of her team when they saw her facing an unknown person. Her eyes softened. "So you have come…" A strangely sorrowful voice came out of her throat. She had known this would happen, but for it to happen now, she did not expect that.

"It's a bit earlier than planned, but now we have no choice after what _that woman_ did before she was killed." The man ignored her teammates and held out his hand to her patiently. Sadness lurked in his dark eyes. "Today, I will show you the truth - _the hidden truth that people have tried hard to cover up since ancient times_."

"And this is the reason why-"

" _Yes_. This is the reason why I needed you, why the crusaders existed, and why I am still alive." She always speculated the identity of the man before her, but after his last statement, she knew then who he was.

She went down on one knee and bowed, showing her belated thanks to him for saving her before. At this, Miyuki rushed over to pull her up from the ground. "...Nari, why are you bowing to him?" He narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend.

"...Thank you very much for saving me when everyone was killed by demons and by Lexi Abbot." She then stood up and locked eyes with the man, ignoring her boyfriend's question. "Now… I am ready to protect - _to fulfill my duty_ \- my side of the oath, but… Let the others choose for themselves. If I am to go alone, I am willing to do so."

"Oath…? Wasn't Lexi Abbot the only one who you made an oath with?" Miyuki grabbed Nari's arm.

She finally held his hand and locked eyes with him. "She forced me. He didn't. His precedes hers."

The moment Miyuki was about to reply, the unknown person interrupted, "Then let them make their choice once I show them the truth with you." The man shut his eyes before focusing on the ice user. "Will that be acceptable?"

Hotaru cried out, feeling confused about the situation, "Just who is he for you to-"

"He is the one who has seen all of time. He is someone who the crusaders supposedly defeated. He is the ruler of the demons… At this point, you should understand…" Nari murmured to her teammates. They looked at her in shock. "Yes, he is _the demon king._ "

"Now that we got that established… Shall we get started, Nari Reyes?" The demon king approached her, waiting for her to grasp his hand.

"Nari, wait. If he's the demon king, then you can't just-" Miyuki was about to continue talking when he found himself to be silenced by her hard stare. He then noted the way she was confident about her choice and how she was consumed by the inevitability of her fate. "You thought about this." He confirmed. She nodded.

"Learn the truth and all will know," Nari whispered to him, "I want you guys to know the truth. I also want to learn to the truth. So… Will you guys go with me into the world of memories for a few hours?"

They all stood there frozen before Miyuki held her hand again with a surrendering grin. "You are my choice. So of course, I will go."

Hotaru also grabbed Nari's other hand. "Obviously, I'll go with you!"

Shindo sighed. "If she's going, then I'm going."

Mariana then pulled on the demon king's hand quite shamelessly and made him walk over to everyone. "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take us to that memory place or whatever!" She huffed at the silent demon king who stared at her incredulously for a moment.

A strangely wry smile tug on the demon king's lips. "Then let's begin." His magic began to grow around him, consuming everyone into darkness in seconds. When they all settled down though, they noticed the strange light feeling inside of them as they were being led by the demon king to several memory doors. "This way… _To the path for the truth_."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Another update.**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

 _The Demon King landed on his feet. From afar, a small town burned from the flames the demons had released. The smell of blood permeated the air. His eyes narrowed in anger. 'They dare to go against me?' He smoothly walked towards the place that he had only visited a few days ago in secret._

 _As he got closer to the town, he only hoped that Dietrich and Ting-Mei wouldn't perish from his weak demons. He quickly scoffed at himself. 'That's impossible. They aren't weak.' But what he saw surprised him._

 _Instead of finding demons ravishing villagers and eating the flesh of the dead, he discovered nothing but a small girl who sat in the middle of the fields of corpses lifelessly. He sniffed into the air, smelling the purified air - hints of ice and… He narrowed his eyes. He sniffed one more time to make sure before he saw red. They killed his friends; they killed Dietrich and Ting-Mei. 'And it wasn't even my demons… That woman will pay… Does she think she can hide her magic signature from me?!' His dark eyes landed back on the unmoving girl. She was only - perhaps, in her early 10's. He approached her casually. She did not even make a move after he stood very close to her. She could clearly see his feet, but she seemed to not care at all._

' _That wouldn't do…' The Demon King narrowed his eyes. 'She needs to want to live or else Dietrich and Ting-Mei would never forgive me.'_

" _I was going to kill the demons who have disobeyed the law, but it seems like you have done the job for me." He said in a clear voice. She finally twitched. 'Was she sleeping? In the middle of all of these corpses?' He found her to be a little odd. She looked at him for a millisecond before her magic flared violently._

" _Are you here to kill me?!" She snarled, standing up to attack. To him, she looked like a hurt kitten that needed to go to the hospital._

 _He scowled in response. "Foolish. If I wanted to kill you, then I would have done so already. Your grandparents surely have taught you to how to think smarter, haven't they? Damn, Dietrich. Ting-Mei. I am not meant for this."_

 _At the mention of her grandparents' names, she paused. "You know my grandparents. Wait-" She actually stared at the man before her. "You visited a few days ago… The day before I had to go to the Capital to take the exam…"_

 _He sighed in relief. "So you do have something in that head of yours. I'm glad."_

 _She blinked. "Well if you're here to save my grandparents… They're already dead. I don't think anyone's alive, except for me." She slumped back to her knees._

' _Oh no. Oh nononononono.' He had to think of something - fast. "There are worse things that will happen in the future. Your grandparents trained you to be able to handle such events. However, they were supposed to be the ones to deal with the upcoming tragedy. A tragedy that can wipe out millions or even the entirety of the human and demon population."_

" _But they aren't here." She spat out bitterly._

" _So you must promise me." A deep mellow voice rang in her ears as she watched the tall dark long-haired male getting on one knee to look at her in the eye. He held out his hand patiently. "Promise me. Make an oath with me about how you will take their place. That you will live and train at all costs. And if you can, find allies who will help you. And when the time comes, I will come to pick you up."_

" _If I do…" She hesitantly reached out. "All will be well…? The tragedy won't happen…?"_

 _He paused before letting out a small sigh. His long fingers lifted her chin up as she stared into the dark pools on his face. "Not all will be well because that is life. Not everything will go as planned. With that woman there, it will be harder for you to train and prepare for the upcoming tragedy, but… There is nothing else we can do."_

 _The nauseating smell of blood quickly suffocated her. The ground below was charred violently from the extinguished flames. Her hands grabbed at the dirt. A hollow emptiness lingered inside of her. She interrupted him with a small voice, "My sin was being unable to protect them." Her throat felt parched. And yet, the only thing she could think of as she spoke was how beautiful his eyes were._

 _He solemnly answered with his soothing voice that seemed to echo around her. "And that is the price that you pay… No, have paid. The consequence will be much more severe if you did not experience such a tragedy beforehand. From this, you will grow. Your grandparents already knew this was going to happen; they didn't know how they would perish, but they knew that they would to a good extent." He sighed._

' _I never understood how human intuitions worked, but I supposed it's similar to my foresight.' He caressed her hair softly. "Your grandparents would have wanted you to protect the world that they love."_

" _A world that let them die this dishonorably." She gritted her teeth._

" _No, a world that gave birth to them and allowed them to experience the beauties of magic and nature combined." The Demon King lifted her chin; he could see in her brown eyes how she saw the world - realistic and idealistic. How was it possible to see the world in both contrasting ways?_

 _She seemed to calm down. "The cruelty of the world has always been there, but it is true that there is beauty in this world. The people, the nature, the demons… They combine to cover their imperfections and slowly become one perfection." The fact that she included demons startled him._

" _Don't you hate demons for killing your townspeople?" He asked._

" _I hate the demons who killed my townspeople and sullied their bodies, but I also hate any humans who killed and sullied the bodies of the weak." A teardrop slid down her cheek. "One bunch of bad apples will not define who I am and who you are. After all, you are you and I am me. No one can say otherwise."_

 _He smiled sadly at the exhausted girl. "Then you're a rare one to think so." The last time he saw this kind of compassion was from the crusaders, except for maybe Lexi Abbot. His eyes quickly darkened at his thought. "Before I make the magic oath with you-"_

" _How can you make an oath? There is no other adult around here." She interrupted, looking around the place quite innocently. He couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or serious at that point._

 _He chuckled under his breath and ruffled her hair. "Silly one. I am level 4. I have no need to use another person to create a very powerful magic oath with a young one, such as yourself."_

" _Level 4… Are you immortal?" She tiredly asked. It was clear that she was starting to fall back asleep from her over excessive use of her magic._

" _Perhaps." He smirked before holding her hand. He whispered the oath in its complex notations as Nari felt a wave of pure enlightening magic pour into her. She never experienced anything like this before. How could someone's magic feel this clean…? When it was over, she leaned against the beautiful man._

 _He whispered to her to sleep and to wait for him - because in truth, she was never alone and will never be alone from now on. This will be the only time she'll be truly alone - or at least, he hoped from the bottom of his heart as he held her in his arms._

 _When he thought that she was fast asleep, he muttered under his breath, "Lexi Abbot… I won't forgive you for betraying Dietrich and Ting-Mei… For killing them, your head will be in my hands when the time comes." He glared at the subtle magic in the air that belonged to that woman. The moment he felt Nari stiffen in his arms, he knew then that she was awake and that she heard his words. 'It seems like I will not be the one to make you pay for your sins, but this little girl or someone near her in the future will...'_

* * *

" _Are you stupid?! Don't just eat mushrooms from anywhere!" Ha-Eun smacked Abdullah on the head. She glared at him as he shrunk back._

" _But I'm so hungry! We've been walking for days and we have yet to find the level 4 master…" Abdullah pouted, sulking about._

 _Tala sighed. "He has a point there. We have yet to find the damn master and yet, here we are, starving like crazy." She almost ripped her hair out from the frustration._

 _Tumaini attempted to cheer up the group, but it seemed to fail miserably. He too fell into a sad depressing state. "Should we just give up…"_

" _Augh!" Ha-Eun threw her hands up into the air and shook their leader, Tumaini, harshly. "YOU'RE OUR LEADER! WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP SO FAST?!"_

 _From behind them, a familiar but younger version of the Demon King with silver long hair and silver eyes laughed at them. "Who the heck are you?" Ha-Eun glared at him. "I'll have you know that we're the crusaders - the first of its kind. So don't treat us so lightly."_

 _He jumped towards her and stared into her eyes. She wanted to take a step back, but she couldn't move. "Hm… Crusaders… Ah, the ones who are looking for the Level 4 Master?"_

" _Yes," She spat out angrily, "Is that a problem?"_

" _No, but you are looking at the level 4 master. Are you sure you're going to treat the one you want to get training from this way?" The moment his words processed in everyone's brain, they bowed to him multiple times as though he was a deity. It made him highly uncomfortable, but also very amused. "Now, now… You want to get training from me? Then let's start."_

* * *

" _Run!" The demon king cried out as he grabbed Ha-Eun from the darkness that began to consume her. Tears sprouted from her eyes when she pushed him away, falling into the dark energy. "HA-EUN-!" He cried out, feeling his magic crackle and absorbing the dark energy around him. Even though the crusaders became level 4 like him, why… WHY IS IT THAT THEY COULDN'T WIN?! WHY COULDN'T THEY DESTROY THAT MONSTER…?! WHY COULDN'T THEY PROTECT EVERYONE? A raw painful scream ripped out from his throat. They were the last ones - the only people strong enough to destroy this monster._

 _It was a few months ago when the problems started. People began to get infected by the dark energy; they couldn't control themselves and they began to change into twisted version of nature. They would start to attack and eat the people around them. At the orders of the monster, the changed humans brought fresh humans to it as it consumed the bodies like candy._

 _That was why the leaders sought for their help - the crusaders and the level 4 masters. 'They just succeeded. They just became level 4 and yet, we couldn't do anything - not a single damn thing.' A dark color began to take over his locks of hair; soon, even his eyes were not spared from this change. "I have to do it." Tears streamed down his face. "Ha-Eun… Tumaini… Tala… Abdullah…" His friends would never forgive him if he never tried to do anything to save the rest of humanity. He let out another howl as his magic crackled and grew bigger. From within the darkness, the four crusaders' magic began to resonate with the level 4 master._

 _The true demons that he saw from afar were intelligent; they acted of their own accord. Their hearts were filled with evil as they ravished children and young adults in front of the older adults and the elderly who were tortured at the same time. It was only until they were all so broken that the demons ate them._

 _He gritted his teeth, amplifying his power. The resonance grew stronger. "ANCIENT ONE!" He bellowed, "HEAR MY CRY! I SACRIFICE MY LIFE AND BODY TO THE DARKNESS THAT STILL LINGERS AMONG THE LIVING AS YOU SLEEP IN THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF THE GROUND! FREE THE LIVING AND KEEP US SAFE FROM YOUR REIGN AS YOU REMAIN UNDISTURBED BY THE WORLD. BECOME THE FIRST LIGHT THAT MAN HAS EVER BEHELD AFTER THE DARKNESS HAS COME TO AN END! SO ENTER THE GROUNDS AND BE SEALED FOR ETERNITY, O' ANCIENT ONE!" The moment his chant ended, the monster squealed from the pain as it tried to take control of the situation. The resonated magic between the four crusaders and the level 4 master, however, consumed everyone from the monster itself to the infected humans._

 _When all became quiet, the infected humans collapsed to the ground. The monster and its evil minions disappeared. The level 4 master stood back up shakily as his hair remained tainted by the darkness and of his mistakes. He fell on his knees, watching his friends breathe in and out with relief. Even though they still looked the same - appearance-wise, only their hair color and eyes changed, just like his. "Thank god…" He cried silently to himself, hoping that they would forgive him for his decision._

 _The evil demons that were considered to be the outliers were the true demons of the Ancient One. The demons that humans considered to be demons were actually the humans who were infected by the darkness, losing all sense of their humanity - even as they reproduced. The demon king was the level 4 master who could not do anything but seal the Ancient One by borrowing the strengths of the four Crusaders. All he could do left was to keep the demons safe and to repent for his sins. The four Crusaders who could no longer go home stayed with the Demon King, acting as his hands and feet. While people called them his true generals, their existences were eventually forgotten. And in time, the Demon King finally became known as the Demon King._

* * *

" _It seems like the rulers no longer remember the truth on why we started the war between demons and humans to begin with." Ha-Eun glanced outside with a disappointed gaze._

" _Nothing to be surprised about." The Demon King joined her at the window. "As long as we make sure that there are enough resources for everyone, then isn't that fine?"_

 _Ha-Eun gazed at the Demon King worriedly. "Maybe you should get some rest."_

" _I had plenty of rest." He ended the conversation and walked out of the room. Tala watched him leave in silence as Ha-Eun touched with the window carefully._

" _There's nothing we can do, is there?" Tala asked her._

 _Ha-Eun sighed. "There has never been anything we can do."_

" _Except for attain level 4, eh?" Abdullah wrapped his arm around Tala. She jabbed her elbow into his stomach as he fell down his knees and coughed a lot._

 _Tala tapped her foot against the floor and glared at him. "What did I tell you about personal space?"_

" _I'm...sorry…?" Abdullah gave a breathy laugh. Tala's eyes twitched._

" _C'mon, you guys. Let's not fight. We haven't decided on what to do about the rulers. How can they just forget their deal with us?! We can't have them do this to us." Tumaini encouraged his team to interact but they stubbornly glared at each other instead. He sighed and gave up._

" _He said that it was fine… In that case, we don't have to do anything. Plus, it was pretty obvious that this was going to happen. People will eventually want to kill us because people fear the unknown." Ha-Eun's eyes darkened. She closed her eyes, trying her best to remember her family; she could no longer recall the way they looked. A sad smile lingered on her lips. "Too many years have passed...for all of us." She then faced them. "When the rulers send the next group of Crusaders to continue peace time, we will teach them about most of our history, the deal, and the importance of our law that intertwines with theirs. Once we finish, we'll bind them with our magic oath as always. Does that sound good?"_

 _Even though Tumaini was supposed to be leader, it was times like these that Ha-Eun acted as the leader instead. "Sounds good to us!" They all cried out - happy about how they finally decided on something._

* * *

 _Lexi Abbot sat up from her bed; sweat drenched her clothes. She did not understand why she was having such horrible nightmares with people being consumed by an evil dark energy and transforming into the demons that she knew were demons. "Stop it…" She grabbed at her head and cried. It was only a few years after she became known as one of the ex-crusaders. Everything had went well for them. Her friends, Dietrich and Ting-Mei, got married and Baraka went off in one of his fun journeys. She managed to build a prestigious school for everyone. But why… For some reason, her head pounded all the time and she could hardly concentrated these days._

" _Stop it, please… I don't want to dream this. Please, please, please." She pleaded to anyone. There were times when she couldn't remember what she did or where she went. There were blank spots in her memory. At first, she thought that she was too stressed and that's why this was happening, but after taking a much-needed vacation, it all seemed to worsen._

 _She could smell it - the blood, the plants, the ashes, and the drool. She could hear it - the cries, the pleadings, the howls, and the mocking laughter. She finally screamed in her pillow. She just wanted to die - if it would stop all the nightmares._

* * *

 _When Lexi Abbot woke up from her trance, she couldn't move her own body. She watched as it moved of its own accord. In front of her, Dietrich and Ting-Mei looked at her sadly. 'What…? What's going on? Why am I here? Why are they here?' She blinked in confusion._

" _Lexi… Are you even in there anymore?" Ting-Mei called out frantically. Lexi then realized that she had a knife in her hand._

' _No. NO. NoNONONONONONONO-' The darkness in her dreams were tainting her, corrupting her, eating her, and controlling her. Tears streamed down her face. She could barely whisper out, "Kill me…" But it was too late. She already used her magic to subdue Dietrich and slashed at his jugular vein, killing him quickly. "No…" Lexi stared at her hand in horror. "No…. NO. NONONONONO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed, even though her body continued to move. "Ting-Mei, kill me. KILL ME!"_

' _This has to be another bad dream. Please wake me up already. Please. Ting-Mei. Dietrich. I-' Lexi raised her hand with the dagger as Ting-Mei struggled in the magic binding that she was under. Lexi sobbed loudly. "Ting-Mei… TING-MEI!" She screamed. Her best friend's blood splattered all over her. The smell of the blood. The sight of her best friends. They all made her vomit in one-go. She couldn't do this. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. She just wanted to wake up from this nightmare already. The control over her body disappeared and she fell onto her knees. She shakily checked the condition of the two, hoping that she could still heal them back to their usual lively selves, but her hopes were dashed._

 _They were dead - no longer capable of smiling at her gently. No longer able to be her family..._

 _Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. She held them both in her arms and sobbed. "Please… Please don't take them away from me too… What have I done to deserve this. What sin have I committed. Why…" She tightened her hold around them. "Someone… Someone please kill me already. Wake me up." She screamed. "WAKE ME UP! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! WHY ISN'T THIS NIGHTMARE ENDING ALREADY?!" The flames flared and scathingly burned around her. She saw the dagger from afar and grabbed it for herself. Sitting down next to her friends, she made sure to close their eyes and whispered prayers to ensure that they passed on correctly._

" _I… I will join you both soon." She smiled crookedly, but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She shivered, feeling the flames creep closer to her. "Please don't forgive me when I see you both. Please… I… I deserve this death more than you both did." She then tilted the dagger towards her. The blade faced her neck. She gulped and breathed deeply - all sobered and focused. "Let this be the end of the cycle of death and hatred." She swiftly pierced her throat with the dagger; her death was too fast. Her body fell to the floor as blood stained her clothes and the gleam in her eyes dulled._

 _The dagger soon dissipated. A dark energy consumed her body, repairing the injuries and occupying it - as though she was still alive. The Ancient One stood up, dusting off the ashes from her shirt nonchalantly. "Well then… I should go back."_

* * *

 _The Ancient One stared at the lions dispassionately as she unleashed a powerful spell to break the chains that restricted her magic. 'It's time...to wreak havoc onto this world once more…'_

 _Eternity? The monster could not be sealed for eternity. After all, eternity did not mean forever - at least, to mere immortals. So it waited for an opportunity - an opportunity to release itself and to get its revenge on the fools who tried to seal it away._

" _Ancient one, hear my cry! I sacrifice my life and body to you as you rise up from the ground and drink my flesh. Rule the living and torment the dead as they fuse into one with the ashes of the forest. Become the last darkness that man has ever beheld. SO COME TO ME AND DEVOUR MY MAGIC, O' ANCIENT ONE!"_

 _From afar, the Demon King arrived with his generals. He raised his hand into the air. "Ancient one, hear my cry! I sacrificed my life and body to the darkness that you left behind as you slept in the deepest depths of the ground! My generals, my people, and I humbly guide you back to the ground to keep the living free and to keep us safe from your reign as you remain undisturbed by the world. Remain as the myth that no man has ever beheld! So go back to the grounds and be sealed for eternity once more, o' ancient one!" The generals backed him up by using a resonance of their magic all together to support his incantation._

 _The sky above them turned dark as lightning began to crash down onto the ground. The wind fiercely blew and screams of frightened people lingered. The clouds covered up the sun, leaving behind only darkness, but soon, the magic from the Demon King and from his generals created a gust of purple fog to consume the entire area. It took them all to force the monster back into its sleeping place. By the time they were done, the fog had went away, revealing the sun once more and cheers of happy people brighten their day._

 _The Demon King sighed tiredly. "It seems like I'll have to get started sooner than later."_

" _Are you going to train Nari and her team?" Ha-Eun asked him, seemingly a bit worried about his mental state._

" _Yes. We have no choice. The magic we used to seal the monster this time… It's only temporary. It can't hold the monster back for a decade anymore. At most, maybe four to five years after the youngest on Nari's team turns seventeen..." He shrugged before sighing. "We really need more than five level 4's to destroy the monster now."_

" _Do they all have potential?" Tala inquired._

" _I'm sure they do and that's why he included her team into his sentence." Abdullah rolled his eyes before he felt Tala jab at his stomach again with her elbow. He groaned and fell to his knees._

" _You were saying…?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. He glared at her._

" _Let's not worry about it for now." Tumaini interjected and then motioned for everyone to follow him and the Demon King. "We have work to do, after all."_

" _Aa." Everyone answered._

* * *

The moment everyone got out of the memory world, they fell onto the floor. " _What the hell...was that_ …" Nari couldn't believe what happened, but at the same time, everything made sense from Lexi Abbot's insanity to her oath with the demon king.

"To think that demons were originally human…" Shindo murmured to himself.

Hotaru teared up. "The headmistress died long before she turned into that crazy woman."

"..." Miyuki stared at the Demon King. "What is your name?"

The Demon King locked eyes with the water user. He smiled grimly. "I no longer remember. You can call me anything as you please - demon king, level 4 master, king, demon, the fallen, teacher. It no longer matters to me."

Mariana huffed. "Well we aren't going to call you any of that!" She stood up and crossed her arms as she approached the Demon King. "From now on, your name is going to be Astrophel as in star friend! Since you're our new friend from the stars."

"Stars…?" Everyone looked at her weirdly.

She shrugged. "What? He used to have silver hair and eyes. It reminded me of the stars in the sky when I was smaller. Haven't you guys gone star watching before?"

They all smiled while simultaneously stifling their laughter. "O-Of course…"

"HEY! DON'T LAUGH!" She turned bright red with embarrassment. The Demon King's lips widened before he forced them back into a neutral expression. "Sheesh. Rude much."

"I believe that name could also stand for star lover." The Demon King corrected her. She glared at him.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter anymore. Your name is Astrophel and that's that!" She harrumphed and marched back to the females of the group.

From behind them, someone called out to the Demon King. "Yo. I'm back - just like you told me to. So who is the patient that you want me to look at?" An old man - stained by his travels - lazily smiled at them. "You told me that it was some girl who went crazy and decided to enter level 3 when she was level 1?" Nari twitched. "You wanted me to help her recover from that incident and for her to regain her power completely - now that she was no longer restrained by both magic oaths?" When no one responded to him, he sighed. "Hello? Are you guys listening to me?! I need to see this patient, so that I can prepare for the magic neurosurgery, you know!"

"Ah… My apologies, Baraka." The Demon King bowed respectfully towards the man. "I didn't realize that you were coming so early."

Baraka Shamoon - the last of the crusaders - snorted at the king. "Whatever you say. My guts have been telling me that I needed to eat more cheese. You know… The kinds at the Capital?"

"Ah… Of course…" The Demon King entertained the old man, wondering if he had gone senile already.

' _Why the heck would the Demon King know the taste of cheese at the Capital?!_ ' is what everyone thought to themselves in secret.

"Before I introduce your patient to you, Baraka, let me talk to the rest of them first." The Demon King wryly smiled.

"Whatever. Do whatever you want." The ex-crusader sat down, leaning against the broken brick wall. He put his cap over his face. "Wake me when you're done."

"Right…" The Demon King faced the rest of Nari's team. "So what will you do? Are you going to help Nari and my team to destroy the monster?"

Miyuki stood up with determination in his eyes. "I will help. If this monster destroys the world, then there is no point in hiding away at my place if I will die at the end of it anyways."

"Exactly." Shindo stood up as well. "I will join as well."

"I would never let Nari- _chan_ deal with such a monster by herself! I'm joining too!" Hotaru cried out.

"And I'm obviously going to help as well. It would be foolish of me to refuse when I'm part of the Noble Five. _Noblesse oblige_ and all..." Mariana grabbed onto Hotaru and Nari's arms affectionately. "So we'll definitely do it together."

"Excellent." The Demon King looked relieved and pleased all at the same time. He then touched Nari's forehead, whispering out the cancellation of the magic oath he put her under in the past. Her magic surrounded them as she closed her eyes, feeling the true immense power of her magic; she felt so alive - so free. His expression brightened at the sight of that. This was what he saw in her as she slept in the middle of the field of corpses. It pleased him to see that her power was just as strong as before.

Everyone gazed at her in wonder until he spoke once more in a serious manner. "The training will be harsh, but you will achieve far greater than any of your peers and your ancestors. Be prepared for it - both mentally and emotionally. It will not be easy at all." He then turned his heel, showing his back to them.

" _Be prepared to die - whether it is now or in the future - because our lives...and the rest of humanity now lies within our hands_."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Another update!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

The next two years passed by quickly once Hotaru reached the age of seventeen as they focused on fully training to become the next crusaders. With the Royal Family and the Noble Five behind them, the school could not refuse their request to elevate them to crusader candidate status.

Meanwhile, during their second year, however, nineteen year old Nari underwent a medical procedure to fully recover from her past level 3 overexhaustion and managed to regain all of her magic power after the magic neurosurgery and rehabilitation was over. The moment Baraka Shamoon told her that she was clear to train, he left on another journey without letting anyone know. It unnerved the nobles and the royal family, but they accepted his whims since he always came back during a time of crisis for some reason.

It was also that year that Hotaru went underwent additional harsh training from Shindo Chiha and Shindo Daichi's fiancée, Feng-Mian, about the proper etiquettes and manners required by a lady in the Noble Five family. She was also enlightened by her duties as a co-leader of the Cultural Preservation Department with Feng-Mian. Thankfully, the two got along well and already decided on which duties to focus on as they split the work properly; each were going to play at their strengths.

Nari, on the other hand, wanted to die from all the additional training she got when she was supposed to be recovering in the medical ward and training to become level 3 under strict conditions.

For the training that had to do with informing her about her duties as Kazuya's future wife, Miyuki's aunt trolled Nari whenever she could because she was apparently bored and wanted to get out of the job of acting as the temporary leader of the R&D Department. According to Miyuki's aunt, she wanted to go travel and eat all of the delicious food in the world, while playing pranks on people or tricking them. Nari felt tremendously sorry for her subordinates who had to suffer from her antics.

As for the training for etiquettes and manners, Lauren Rombustelli unfortunately or fortunately took on the role to tutor her - more like drill it into her mind, body, and soul. She was just as bad as Miyuki when it came to teaching; they were both spartans to the max. Nari wanted to go dig a hole and hide.

Mariana spent a lot more time with Astrophel whenever he came to check on them, which was pretty often. Because everyone else was so busy, she rarely had time to see them, except during mealtimes. Since Shindo went off to train on his own with the master of his own choosing, she had no one to hang out with or train with. So under the guidance of the Demon King, she improved at a fast rate that she never even knew was even possible in the first place.

For Miyuki, however...

* * *

It was the second year of Miyuki's intense training with his father, Miyuki Toku. The first year was pretty relaxing, considering that he did not have to focus on anything else, but for the second year, things were about to change drastically.

First, his girlfriend, Nari, was going to go under an extensive medical procedure for her overexhaustion. So that meant that he wouldn't be able to do whatever he wanted with her. It restricted him to some extent, but he didn't mind; as long as she recovered, that's all that mattered to him.

Miyuki Toku looked at his son with a solemn expression. "Since you are now level 2, I think it's time you understand the full extent of our job as the Miyuki Family." He sighed a little as if he did wanted to keep Miyuki in the dark about it. "I know that you think that the very occasional missions you went on for the past year were real - _and they were_ , but… They were actually the few rare ones that weren't… hard."

"In other words, they were the extremely lower leveled ones. Honestly, I didn't think they were the type of missions that the department were usually sent out for anyways." Miyuki reassured his father that he wasn't that stupid and had a pretty good idea as to what the _real missions_ of the Covert Operations Squad were like.

That seemed to make Miyuki Toku feel a little bit better. "Well, I will be sending you on the higher level missions with the rest of our department. From there, you will learn the ins and outs of _everything_ in that department."

"...Understood." Miyuki replied. The heaviness in his father's gaze, however, soon made him wary about the missions he has to undertake in the near future.

* * *

"..." Miyuki stood quietly at the door. He felt so empty - _so utterly disturbed_. His first mission was too huge of a jump from his previous missions. It made sense, but he felt so _dead_. They warned him that he needed to turn off his emotions and he thought that he already did that by being logical whenever he needed to make decisions. And that was what he did, not allowing his emotions and thoughts to consume him during the mission. That was why the mission ended up as a huge success, but…

Nari yawned as she flung the book to the desk near her. She leaned against the frame of her bed. "I'm so… _bored_."

He wanted to be bored too. He wanted to be the _him_ that never went on the mission; he wondered why his father didn't go crazy from his earlier days of going on those missions. He wondered if that was why his father rarely showed his emotions on his face. The nature of his mission remained as a source of conflict for him. He was never innocent in his thoughts, but he always felt that he was fair and moral within the lines of his values and boundaries. And now…

" _We did nothing wrong-" A young female cried out in anger._

 _Miyuki's partner knocked her out and threw her into the cold room, locking it. "She'll die eventually from the cold, but even if she were to survive, she would physically and mentally be scarred." He explained to Miyuki._

" _Then let's move on." Miyuki murmured as they dashed through the hallways of the mansion._

 _By the time they made it to the room, an older man threw papers and bottles at a young girl. She sobbed, trying to protect herself with her arms; she knew that any attempts of hiding herself or covering herself with anything would result in a greater pain than before. Scars lingered on her skin. Blood dripped from her head injury. "YOU BITCH-! YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT-!" She seemed to notice them as she cried quietly._

 _The older man was the official of the Treasury Department. However, he seemed to be also known as a disturbance that tried to embezzle some of the money. The rumor of him abusing his family spread, along with the rumors that he captured countryside women and raping them in his basement dungeon. After they confirmed the rumors to be true, Lauren Rombustelli sent in a request to secure evidence of his embezzlement, his abuse, and his rape attempts on kidnapped women. She also mentioned in her request to assassinate him and his family that did nothing to stop his wrongdoings to ensure that such scum would not continue to exist in this world. She did add that any victims, however, should not be killed and should be put under thorough therapy and support from the horrors that they faced. That, however, was a request sent to both the Medical Department and their Covert Operations Squad for a collaborative effort._

 _The squad released the women and had the female operatives to take care of them, while the rest dealt with the perpetrators. Miyuki and his partner were personally in charge of dealing with the official of the Treasury Department._

 _Miyuki took out his new sword and dashed forward when the younger girl jumped in the way; she held her arms out to protect the man. He twirled around her and took off. She gritted her teeth, pulling his wrist that held the blade. She shoved it into her throat. She spat out blood and smiled dimly. She locked eyes with the shocked man, trying to whisper something to him. Her gaze towards him remained warm and - dare he say it - filled with love. His inwards squirmed uncomfortably, understanding what she said to him - the words, "I love you. Run away." He felt that the love she had for that man twisted into a tainted misunderstood delusion - the results of Stockholm Syndrome. He pulled his sword out of her throat when she fell to the ground in a slump. Without wasting anymore time, he slashed across the target's jugular vein, ending the man's life effectively._

' _Mission. Over.'_

Nari finally noticed him. "Kazuya? Why didn't you say anything? You scared me…" She pouted for once and motioned to him to come over to her. He silently obeyed her, which she found to be a little odd. "...Kazuya?"

His feet dragged him to her. He wrapped his arms around her without talking. She then realized that something was wrong. She hugged him closer. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she knew that he wouldn't talk unless he was ready to talk about it. "Join me?" She whispered to him as she moved to the side of her bed, so that he could join him. When he didn't say anything, she quietly said, "I heard that you've been busy with the training and missions… Everyone's been telling me that you're sometimes absent from the meal times because of those missions."

That was when he stiffened in her arms. He dug his face into her neck and sharply sucked on the skin there as if to express what he wanted from her. She turned rigid. He stopped and laid down against her without moving.

' _He doesn't want me to talk about the missions. That means his current behavior has to do with it… What happened, Kazuya…?_ '

She soon noticed his steady breathing, indicating that he fell asleep. She looked at him while caressing his hair, kissing his forehead to comfort him. She then softly sang the lullaby to give him nice dreams to ease away the dark pain he got from the mission he went on.

* * *

It soon became a pattern. Miyuki would take a nap with Nari after the mission and when he woke up, he would spend time as if everything was okay by bantering with her and discussing any magic topic for fun. Sometimes, she would find small items to play with and make a game out of it, such as cat's cradle with a long string.

However, this time, it would end differently. While Nari could ignore the effect the missions had on Miyuki, the fact that she had to use the lullaby magic to get him to sleep peacefully in her bed made her antsy and upset. She wasn't really upset about using the magic, but she was upset about the fact that she _had_ to use it on him in the first place because it meant that the missions were actually affecting him to such a bad extent. Since the two of them weren't exactly emotionally expressive, she knew that she had to be the one to initiate the conversation because he rarely outwardly showed his thoughts and feelings. They could no longer put it off.

There were heavy bags under his eyes. He strode to her bed as always - very intent on snuggling with her. She did not move from her spot this time and patted the place in front of her, telling him to sit there. He did as she wanted. "Kazuya, have you seen Shindo recently? Hotaru? Mariana?" He shook his head for each one. Her heart dropped. She furrowed her eyebrows. "...Kazuya, I'm worried."

"What are you worried about?" He tried to cover up his exhaustion with a playful grin. When he realized that she was being serious though, he went back to frowning - fully intent on listening to her words. " _What's wrong_."

"The missions that you're being assigned to… I know that I can't do anything about it, but is there a better way for me to get you to feel like yourself again?" She stared into his eyes. "You probably already know, but I've been using the lullaby magic when you take naps here." He didn't look surprised. "While I'm happy to see you during your breaks, you're not like me in that hanging out with one person is enough to make you feel energized. I would like it if you went to see everyone else as well. They do miss you, after all."

"The lullaby helps. I'm starting to slowly get used to the missions now." He caressed her hair. "I…" His eyes darkened. "I'm not sure about what I want or who I am anymore." The fact that he admitted that made her feel a little bit better.

She held his hand. "I… I talked to your aunt. It hurt me to see you so… down and bothered by the missions. It's a little bit embarrassing to admit, but I…" She winced. "I even cried in front of her. I think because of that, she made your father lessen the amount of missions you're being assigned to. I don't know if you noticed, but yeah…"

"...My father did tell me that there were two reasons as to why he stopped giving me so many missions. One of them was because I already understood the trade completely and had no need to go on them anymore. The second reason… He wouldn't tell me, but…" He smiled wryly. "Now I know why."

"So are you going to take the time that you have - to deal with the aftereffects and see everyone again?" Nari tilted her head to the side. Curiosity swirled in her eyes.

"I will. It would be inefficient if I didn't deal with it - now that I have time." He muttered to himself. He could see relief in her expression and her rigid posture relaxed again. It seemed like she really was worried about him. In a way, it warmed him, especially after noticing her red puffy eyes. She would never want to admit it, but she was actually a crybaby and extremely soft-hearted when it came to the people she loved. She tried to always hide it from him, but it would never escape his notice. She smiled a little in an almost shy manner and pulled him towards her, so that he could have his nap. Instead of sleeping this time, he patted her back rhythmically.

"Kazuya…?" She glanced at him questioningly.

"This time, I want to see you fall asleep. It seems like you've been seeing me fall asleep most of the time these days." He had almost forgotten how stress relieving it was to feel like himself again; he let her take the lead of the relationship for a while now, but now, he wanted to take back the reins to guide them both to a satisfying point in their relationship. ' _It'll take time, but I'll be myself again - a better version of myself - and no longer worry you..._ '

* * *

"So you talked to Nari about it?" Shindo asked his best friend as they laid down on the ground in a relaxed manner.

"Yeah. We'll just have one child when we get married and hire a nanny part-time. We're going to be really busy with our jobs, so it wouldn't be wise to have so many children anyways, especially since we do want to take care of the child on our own as well."

"I'm surprised-" Shindo shook his head with a breathy laugh. "I guess I'm not that surprised that you both talked about it. Did you guys discuss about parenting methods as well?"

"Of course, we did." Miyuki threw a rock in the air before catching it effortlessly. "We don't want to get engaged or get married without knowing what the other person wants and expects."

Shindo poured some of his water onto his face, shaking his head to dry himself. "Then when will you two get married?"

"Maybe in our late 20's or early 30's… Or at least, when we settle down in our new jobs - once we defeat the Ancient One." Miyuki shrugged as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "We don't want kids until we're secure."

"Efficient and logical. Makes perfect sense." Shindo sat back up with a sly grin. "Make sure to use the protection magic when doing it though, but I guess I don't have to tell you that…"

Miyuki almost rolled his eyes at his best friend. "...It's more likely that I would be the one to tell you that - since you don't have as much experience as me."

Shindo snorted in response. "Bullshit. I have just as much experience as you do."

"Maybe." Miyuki sat up and threw the rock to the tree. He faced his best friend with an excitable glint in his eyes. "Wanna fight?"

"Sure." They stood up - ready to let out their stress during their practical battle.

* * *

Because everyone trained hard and relentlessly under harsh and pressuring guidances that were usually only reserved for level 2 users, they easily leveled up after every year. However, once they hit level 3, they could no longer improve since their teachers or mentors were not stronger than them...

It was now the beginning of their third year of training with everyone turning twenty, except for Hotaru.

"What do we do?" Mariana looked at her teammates worriedly as she moved some of her shoulder-length hair to behind her ears. "We need to do something." Even though it was Nari's first time eating with everyone for once after she was released from the hospital, they could not find themselves happily eating their food when the potential apocalypse was looming over their heads.

"Did Astrophel tell you anything, Mariana?" Nari asked; she tied her short hair loosely as a ponytail with some of her hair covering the sides of her face. Her light bangs gave her an innocent look as whole. The fire user shook her head. "Maybe we should ask him to train us."

"That would be a good idea." Miyuki commented. The shadow in his eyes lessened, but he still held Nari close to him - to feel _less cold_ from his past missions. He leaned against her. She grabbed his hand and drew circles on the back of it comfortingly. "Mariana, since you're the closest to him, do you want to ask?"

Mariana tapped her finger on the table. "I suppose I will."

"Then let's go." Hotaru stood up from her chair. Her lightly cut bangs shaped her face well as her long hair was tied into a side low ponytail. Previously, she had shorter hair with side bangs, but it no longer suited her as an adult.

Shindo motioned to everyone. "I know where he is. Let's head out."

* * *

"Ah, Astrophel!" Mariana waved at the demon king happily. However, the demon king didn't seem to notice them as he stared at the sky with a solemn expression. "Astrophel?"

When he finally looked at them, his eyes were colder than ice. The dark pools swirled with disappointment and disgust. They didn't understand why he looked at them like that. "What's wrong, Astrophel?" Nari asked seriously. Before they had a chance to respond, they all flew down to the ground - unable to move. It was as if gravity was pushing them down and not letting them move.

"You have failed me, Nari." The smooth mellow voice that she used to admire a lot in the past made her shake in fear. There was something sinister that was in his voice. "To just barely reach level 3 now… Even if you were to turn level 4 right now, two more years wouldn't be enough time to make you and your teammates evolve into the middle of level 4. _How pathetic. Was this all your resolves resulted into? To just be a mere lower level 3?_ "

They couldn't say anything. Their thoughts remained jumbled and they still couldn't move. "We…" Shindo gritted his teeth, but Astrophel slammed his foot against Shindo's head. Thankfully, Shindo brought up a barrier on time, but the strength the demon king put into his foot slowly began to crack the barrier from pure physical power. It was no wonder as to why he was the demon king.

"There are no other level 3's to train us!" Hotaru barely managed to say. Even she could not control the wind to help her sit up.

Miyuki struggled as he watched the demon king approach him. "Argh…" He just barely managed to lift himself from the ground like a bad push-up with his arms, but he flew into the air and landed next to Nari harshly after Astrophel kicked him in the stomach.

The demon king picked up Mariana from the ground. She could not move her body at all. He locked eyes with her before covering her eyes with his hand. "You will be the first sacrifice…" His lips touched hers lightly. She felt something rush into her throat, sending her into a fit of coughs. He dropped her to the ground and walked over to Miyuki.

"What the hell are you doing to-" Nari tried to drag herself over to Miyuki before the demon king reached him, but she was too late. Astrophel picked up Miyuki and forced open his mouth, blowing a little in the direction of his mouth. The water user's eyes widened in shock as he coughed hard once the demon king dropped him to the ground.

Astrophel walked over to Nari. He dropped a teleportation stone in front of her. "You will have exactly 24 hours to defeat my generals and myself if you want to release the curse of death from Mariana and Miyuki."

"Wh-what?!" Nari tried to grab Astrophel's leg, but he walked away and used a teleportation stone for himself. "NO, WAIT-!" Soon, a horrible silence fell on them. The gravity no longer pushed them down to the ground.

* * *

Everyone went back into the house to prepare for the upcoming battles. Miyuki packed as though he was going on another mission. He stared at his bag a little bit lifelessly.

That was how Nari found him when she entered his room after packing her own. The view of his lone figure tugged at her heart painfully, so she hugged him tightly from behind. She didn't want him to see her almost crying state. He finally dropped his bag and turned around before also hugging her back. The moment she saw in that brief moment the shadows in his eyes becoming more prominent after receiving the curse of death, tears gathered at the corner of her eyes once more. "Kazuya…" She whispered to him. Her grip on the back of his shirt tightened.

"Hmm…?" He breathed in and out steadily. His fingers intertwined with locks of her brown hair. He sounded relaxed, but she knew that he was tense about the situation.

She pulled away and held his face with her hands. He locked eyes with her. No one said a word to each other. Instead, they took a step back one-by-one, having small moments of pausing to caress the other's cheek with the thumb of their hands. The moment she sat down on his bed, he leaned forward. There was something painful in his eyes. She wanted to heal him from it desperately, touching his lips with her own lightly, before pulling away to look at him once more. They did not move for a full second as she watched in fascination how molten his eyes became - focusing solely on her. She then proceeded to slowly give him another feathery kiss on his lips. "Nari." His voice - strained - stopped her as she watched him patiently. "How cruel." His pained smile hung from his lips.

"I know," she said. He leaned forward once more; their lips were only a centimeter apart. He could feel her breathe and the way her skin felt absolutely divine under his hands - so soft. It drove him to the brinks of insanity. The restraint that he put himself under for the upcoming battle fell apart effortlessly - and it was all Nari's fault.

"Let it go, Kazuya." The finality in her words let something burn inside of him like a feral animal; his lips fervently met hers as he pushed her down to the bed. He lightly bit her bottom lip, swiping his tongue against it. The moment she groaned in frustration, he smirked against her lips, feeling _more alive than ever_. It seemed _almost sinful_. He kissed her slowly and steadily as if he was completely in control of the situation, wanting to tease her and drive her crazy - just as she did to him. By the time he was finished, they breathed heavily against each other. He held her in his arms, enjoying the fact that they were together. After all, the training from before made it hard for both of them to see each other often, despite always making time to see each other for at least once a week.

She snuggled against him and whispered in his ear, "I… I love you, Kazuya." It was at this moment that he wished they were not under such a stressful situation, so that he could show her just how much he loved her intimately and slowly. She then pulled him into another embrace as he spoke of his love to her softly in her ear and left feathery kisses on her shoulder.

Before they left his room, he paused and faced her seriously. "I will not leave you alone. I will not die and leave you. I will not."

She held him close again. "I know. _I know..._ "

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Shindo held the teleportation stone in his hand. Miyuki and Mariana looked a little worn out for some reason. Nari speculated that the curse was making them feel exhausted already.

"Yes." Hotaru grabbed Nari's hand and Mariana's hand, while Nari held Miyuki's hand and Shindo grabbed onto his best friend's. The stone flashed and in seconds, they landed in front of two large entrance gates.

"Let's go." Nari took the lead and opened the gates. What they saw next was the a large clearing of stoned flooring. No one was there to greet them and no one attacked them. It wasn't until they entered that the gate shut behind them and someone jumped down from the top of the next gate.

"Why hello there!" A tan-skinned woman waved at the group happily. She had a bo staff tied to her back loosely. Her long dark hair was tied in a mermaid braid. "So who will be my opponent?" Before anyone could answer, she continued, "The person who will be my opponent will remain here until they beat me, but the rest of the group can move forward to the next stage."

Hotaru faced everyone. "Let me go face her."

"..." Everyone took in her confident gaze before nodding in agreement.

"I will be the one to face you. My name is Shirafuji Hotaru. What is your name?" Hotaru shouted out to the youthful woman.

"I am called Tala. Nice to meet you." She took out her staff in seconds and a crazed look lingered on her face. "Let's have plenty of fun fighting today! Everyone else should hurry up and enter the next gate, unless you want to get caught up in the fighting."

"Catch up with us soon, okay?" Nari waited for Hotaru to nod before leading everyone to the next gate. "YOU BETTER COME BACK TO US FAST!"

"Okay!" Hotaru brightly smiled at her comrades and then faced her opponent seriously. There was no way she could lower her guard around someone like Tala. Her instincts were telling her that the young woman was a lot of trouble to deal with.

* * *

"Oh c'mon. Please tell me that my opponent is someone strong. I can't stand weaklings!" A very tall man with dark curly hair complained as he saw the group. "I especially don't like that guy…" Pointing quite rudely at Shindo, he scoffed at the appearances of the group.

"Let me go at him." Shindo then suggested to the group. "I'm pretty sure the reason why Astrophel gave the curses to Miyuki and Mariana are because he believes you two are the strongest out of the group so far. So it would be better if one of them tried to defeat the Demon King."

"Are you done deciding-" When he saw who his opponent was, his eye twitched. "SERIOUSLY?! WHY IS IT THE ONE GUY WHO I DON'T REALLY LIKE?!"

"My name is Shindo Yoh. What is your name?" Shindo ignored his rude comments.

"Hmph. I'm Abdullah." As he watched the rest of the group enter the next gate, he looked at his opponent calmly. His childish facade went away. He walked purposefully, analyzing Shindo carefully.

* * *

"Please go easy on me." The timid male glanced at the group. "Whoever it is that I'm facing…"

Mariana sensed a great power within him, making her frown at him. "You two, go on ahead. I want to face him."

"Are you sure?" Nari was about to volunteer when Mariana shook her head at her.

"I can do it. No problem." She smiled confidently at the ice user. Nari sighed before nodding in agreement.

The timid man stared at her. "Are you sure you're going to let them leave you?" His eyes widened almost innocently.

"Drop the act." Mariana held out her staff in front of her. "Let's fight-"

"Tumaini. My name is Tumaini, Mariana Rombustelli." The fact that the general knew of her name shocked her briefly before she remained her focus on the fight.

* * *

"You've gotta be kidding me." The young woman tied her dark hair into a high ponytail. "To think that I have to fight against a child." She held a bow in her hand.

Nari's eye twitched. "Kazuya, go on ahead. You have more of chance against the Demon King than I do."

"Are you sure?" Miyuki was tempted to take on the archer.

"Yes, I'm sure. Hurry up and go. We don't have much time left." Nari answered him in frustration. He finally agree and left for the final gate.

"How cold." Ha-Eun merely commented. "Don't you care if your boyfriend will die or not?"

"I do care." Nari answered. "But I'm confident in him. I trust him."

"Faith…" Ha-Eun bitterly said under her breath. "Then prove to this Ha-Eun - that your faith is worth keeping."

* * *

"So you have arrived." The Demon King stared at the water user with vague disinterest.

"..." Miyuki huffed as he grabbed at his chest.

"It hurts, doesn't it? Just moving feels like it'll drive you insane." Astrophel blinked a few times at him.

"What can I do to get rid of this curse… Kill you…?" Miyuki gritted his teeth.

The Demon King finally smiled widely. " _What do you think._ "

"Then I'll kill you to save myself and my teammate!" He unsheathed Masamune - fully intent on murdering the person who gave him the curse.

* * *

Hotaru flew into the wall, choking on her spit. She coughed harshly and tried to stand up when Tala slammed her bo staff into her stomach. Hotaru crumpled down to the ground. She could hear from afar the happenings of everyone's battle in the mirrors that Tala released; those mirrors allowed its users to see what was happening at the places of her choosing.

The moment Hotaru heard Miyuki scream from his battle, she began to cry. Tears streamed down her face as she felt helpless that she couldn't help her brother. "To cry like that when you have your own battle. How shameless." Tala sneered; the young woman pulled up Hotaru's ponytail and punched her in the face. "I gave you a chance in the beginning by letting my guard down as much as possible, but you hesitated to kill me all the time. You're weak - how utterly emotionally weak."

Mariana cried out in pain as Hotaru heard a loud explosion from the mirror. "I'm… I'M NOT WEAK!" Hotaru released her air magic around her violently. "I WILL KILL YOU!" Her eyes flared with anger and absolute hatred. She gathered her air magic in her hand before releasing it at Tala. "LOSE-!"

The moment it hit Tala, an explosion occured from the impact. Smoke covered the area in seconds. Hotaru coughed, trying to make sure that she actually did win instead of assuming. Suddenly, she felt something hard smack the side of her head. She slammed into the floor and Tala's foot kicked her up into the air. She was pretty sure that she broke a few ribs from that. Tala's bo staff broke through her air barrier and slammed into her chest as she flew into the wall again. Blood trickled down her head. Her vision turned blurry. She was going to lose and it was all because she hesitated.

She felt Tala pick her up from the ground. "You should not have said, _lose_ , to me. You should have told me to _die_."

"In the end, your hesitance will lead to failure. And that failure will lead to your friends' deaths." Tala's words echoed in her mind endlessly. "In other words, you will let your friends die without hope. _How pathetic._ "

* * *

Shindo cursed as he watched Abdullah casually heal himself in a millisecond. No matter how much he hurt the older male, his wounds just disappeared as though they were never there to begin with. Honestly, his strategy should have worked and defeated the male before him easily. It wasn't as if Abdullah's combat and defense were that great, but for some reason, nothing seemed to be working. "Tch." Shindo lost all polite pretenses. His best friend was dying and he could not afford to fight this man any further.

Shindo threw punches and kicks that were infused with his pressure wave magic endlessly at the man. Abdullah just laughed, "Wow, you're really being impatient now. Who would have thought?" The moment the older male dodged and let Shindo to jump right past him, he jabbed Shindo's stomach with his finger. It was a light touch, so Shindo landed nicely onto the floor.

When he was about to stand though, he felt a sharp pain go through where Abdullah touched. He flinched and fell down to the ground, holding his stomach. "Wha-" Blood began to stain his shirt as a big wound in his stomach appeared. "How…"

Abdullah approached Team 8's leader nonchalantly. A cruel smile lingered in his expression. "Do you really think that healing magic only heals? That support magic only supports?" He snickered, "If that's all you think, then you have something else coming...because healing and support magic, when used correctly, can be the most painful and cruelest magic you can inflict on someone." As he talked to Shindo, he snapped his fingers, releasing binding chains to wrap around his young opponent. He taunted him about his weakness. "Not learning the intricacies of other magic will be your mistake, little boy."

* * *

Mariana threw more fire blasts at Tumaini, hoping to figure out the weakness of his barriers, but to no avail, his defense was utterly perfect. She held her arm as blood drenched her sleeve. Last time, it was her mistake for letting him touch her for a brief moment; his healing magic seemed more feral than combat magic. She never knew that healing magic could be this dangerous.

He flung his hand against her blasts easily, extinguishing them with his defense magic. "For every type of magic, there is no good or bad. It's the way you use them that makes it seem black or white. The intention of the user is what makes it black and white." He then dashed towards her with his two fingers ready to jab her again.

She dodged his attacks, making sure that she was not getting hit by his healing magic. However, the tremors from her heart paralyzed her for a brief second. She could feel the curse wrapping around her like a snake ready to eat their prey. She couldn't take a breath because she had to keep dodging. Suddenly, she slammed into something behind her. "Wha-" She knew that she was not even close to the wall, so how was it possible for there to be something there?

She erected a barrier in front of her when the barrier in his hand literally sliced through hers. Shock flashed in her eyes as he jabbed his fingers into her stomach. She choked on her spit, falling to her knees. She held her stomach and cried out in pain. He laughed mockingly, "Do you really think that defense magic can't be used for anything else? Defense can be the best attack."

He picked her up and threw her to the wall violently. She slammed into it and trembled horribly. The curse was consuming her and she could not do anything about it. "Fuck…" She cursed for once in a breathless manner.

* * *

Nari and Ha-Eun were sending attacks to each other in silence. The only sound that could be heard are from the impacts of their attacks on each other's barriers. It was only when Ha-Eun finally said something that broke the tension in the air, elevating the intent to kill to another level. "As long as I keep you here, that Miyuki boy will die without you there. Aren't I being considerate?"

Nari saw red and gritted her teeth. "You…" She breathed in and out, calming herself down. "Kazuya will not die. I refuse to let that happen." Her magic surrounded her like a gust of icy winds as she focused on building up her magic into an attack.

Before Nari could even shoot it at the woman, Ha-Eun sliced through it with her arrow. Anger swirled in Ha-Eun's eyes. "Then you're a fool." She already set up her next arrow as pure power pulsed inside of it. "Restraining your emotions won't help you in the heat of battle when sometimes, the strength of your power depends on your strongest emotions. Does someone else need to die in front of you for you to finally get you to use your emotions effectively in the heat of battle?!"

Nari erected a strong ice barrier, building onto it to stop Ha-Eun's powerful attack. Ha-Eun continued to talk. "For logical people like us, our type of magic becomes immensely stronger when infused with our emotions, while the opposite holds true for those who are emotionally driven. They just need to be able to _turn off_ their emotions in order to strengthen their power. But unfortunately, for us, it's harder to show and infuse our emotions with our magic, unless something traumatizing happens." The tip of her arrow let out a bright light that almost blinded Nari. "So that's why…" Ha-Eun cried out, "YOU WILL LOSE!" She released the arrow as it shot through the air, crashing into the barrier. Nari gritted her teeth, trying to hold on, but the power from the arrow was overwhelming. It soon broke through her barrier and Nari let out an ice attack to counter it. The impact erupted into a loud explosion.

Nari flew into the wall behind her, struggling to stand. Ha-Eun immediately threw her to the ground, putting her foot against Nari's stomach, while simultaneously drawing her bow to aim her arrow at Nari's head. " _You... lose._ "

* * *

Miyuki gritted his teeth as he glanced at Masamune that laid on the floor. He couldn't move, thanks to the curse that paralyzed him. The Demon King dug into his shoulder with his sword, twisting it to ensure that his opponent felt his every movement inside of his wound. Miyuki screamed out in pain.

"Haven't you experienced the darkness of the world - much more than your friends and your girlfriend?" Astrophel casually talked as he binded Miyuki's limbs to stop him from moving. "Watching people get killed and having to stain your hands with their blood… Aren't you enjoying it?"

Miyuki bit his bottom lip harshly; blood dripped from his lip. "As if-" Astrophel slammed his foot down on the younger male's stomach. He choked on his spit and coughed hard.

"Don't interrupt me." The Demon King forcefully took out the sword from Miyuki's shoulder, making blood gush from the wound. Miyuki groaned as he felt the searing pain that ripped from his shoulder. "You just don't know how to handle it - the darkness of your missions. The nature of it all. You shut down instead - not wanting to accept that you are being drained both mentally and emotionally from all that work. It's a weakness in your eyes. Your incompetence at controlling your emotions, I mean. You hate feeling so helpless, feeling so mediocre compared to your partner during the missions, and feeling so controlled by the missions that you're sent out on."

"And...?" Miyuki tried to reach for Masamune but Astrophel kicked the katana away from him.

The Demon King sat casually on the ground, stabbing the ground with his sword. "Treating your emotions as a burden in the first place was your mistake. Letting those fears to continue boiling inside of you will only worsen your soul. Without realizing, you start to depend on your girlfriend to feel alive - to not feel like a murderer." He sneered bitterly at the water user. "Do you think that she'll stay with you for long if you keep doing that?"

Miyuki glared at the man. "I-"

Astrophel interrupted him, "You're scared that she'll leave you once she finds out that you're so weak - so weak that you can't handle your emotions and the missions you are given. Shutting down does nothing. You not accepting and understanding your emotions does nothing." He shrugged and stood back up, pulling the sword out of the ground. "You're just a coward who can't accept your actions, forge such dark experiences as a part of you, and develop your emotional capacity because you had no need to do so before. You were spoiled for far too long." He slashed at Miyuki's stomach, not caring that blood was splattering on his clothes.

"Damn...you…" Miyuki hated how he could do nothing under the effects of the curse and how he was trapped under the Demon King's whim. He was like a puppet that could not move whenever he wanted to or live however he wanted to.

"And now? You'll die and never get the chance to grow from it - to learn and win against the darkness." The Demon King's dark eyes flickered of anger, bitterness, and sorrow as if he saw Miyuki as the younger version of him. " _Because you refuse to accept and be the darkness that lingers inside of you._ "

* * *

Hotaru struggled to stand. Blood pooled underneath her; her hands were completely red. She could not die; she refused to die. As if she could no longer hear the sounds from the mirrors, she stood shakily. Tala watched her with vague disinterest. "I…" Hotaru breathed out.

"What…" Tala answered. She sounded utterly bored.

At this point, Hotaru did not have the strength to muster up any of her emotions; in fact, she felt slightly dead and empty inside. It was as though her emotions went into hiding in the dark corners of her mind. "I won't…"

Tala walked over to her casually, not even bothering to put up a barrier. Obviously underestimating her, she held up the collar of Hotaru's clothes. "Say it louder."

That was when Tala realized that she made a huge mistake; Hotaru's magic surrounded the two with precise movements. It was as if they were in the eye of the storm. " _Shi-_ " Tala dropped Hotaru back to the ground and tried to leave, but found her trapped. "You bitch."

Hotaru's eyes chilled as she solely focused on her opponent. Tala swung her staff towards the young woman, but Hotaru wrapped her arm with a barrier, blocking it effectively. She grabbed the staff, forcing the barrier to tie the staff to her hand. " _Die._ " Her eyes glowed greyish blue for a second as the wind rapidly blew through them. The temperature inside of the gust tornado rose. Blood began to drip from her ears - even though Hotaru was supposed to have a grip on her magic.

"I think you'll die before you even get to kill me." Tala gritted her teeth. "You can't even control your magic."

"Shut up." Hotaru narrowed her eyes, forcing the wind to trap Tala from moving. It was as though something binded her completely. She raised her hand in the direction of her opponent and squeezed her hand tightly, controlling the wind to crush Tala.

Tala's blood began to mix in with the wind, making the wind bindings look more like red ropes. However, Tala's body began to glow green in response to this attack. Ignoring it, Hotaru continued to concentrate on the air that Tala was breathing. The wind sliced at Hotaru's body harshly as she forcefully moved the air to pressure her opponent's body inside. Tala shrieked out in pain.

Before Hotaru could finish her, however, she spat out blood, feeling her lungs acting abnormally. The wind bindings released Tala and she fell down to the floor in a slump. Their blood mingled together as Hotaru dropped down to her knees. She couldn't hear a thing. She couldn't feel a thing. Blood dripped down from her eyes, making her vision turn red. Hotaru fell down to the ground, wondering what was happening to her.

' _At least… I won…_ ' Those were Hotaru's last thoughts before passing out with Tala. ' _And reached level 4..._ '

* * *

Shindo felt lightheaded as the chains wrapped around him tightly. "Support magic can be very...interesting." Abdullah tapped his chin with his finger. "When combined with healing magic, they can be extremely dangerous to foes, especially when they least expect it."

Shindo finally slumped in the chains. He didn't move nor did he show any signs that he was still conscious. "Did I beat him too fast?" Abdullah snorted and then pulled up Shindo's face to see. After a few minutes, Shindo still did not show any signs of being awake. "..."

Abdullah sat down on the ground and waited a bit longer, but no matter how much he waited, Shindo never moved. "Should I release him…?" He asked to no one in particular. "I guess… I will."

The moment Shindo fell to the ground, he poured the majority of his magic into the ground, creating a violent earthquake. Abdullah slammed into the floor hard, not allowing him to get a hold of himself. Shindo shakily stood back up. He stomped his foot against the floor once more, releasing another wave of strong pressure waves towards his foe. Abdullah tried to use his healing magic on himself to stop feeling nauseous, but to no avail, the quaking made it hard for him to even move his limbs. He felt stuck to the floor with no chance of moving.

" _I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE ANYMORE TIME HERE!_ " Shindo cried out as he slammed his fists against the ground. Dizziness took him over and he could no longer feel his limbs, falling down onto the floor in a slump. The wound on his stomach opened some more, creating a pool of blood below him. He could see from afar how Abdullah no longer moved as he also bled like him from Shindo's final pressure wave attack. He tried to stand back up, but the imbalance inside of him made him fall on his face. ' _I have to… I have to be there… Miyuki's waiting for me. Fuck…_ '

* * *

Mariana finally felt her limbs once more. The paralysis effect of the curse began to wear off. However, Tumaini seemed to believe that she was still paralyzed as he taunted her, "How weak you are… You can't even feel your fingers, can you? I wonder if I should rip them off." Before he could slice them off with his barrier, she slapped him in the face, infusing her fire magic into it. He yelped and jumped back, healing the burnt area of his cheek. "You-"

She stood back up once more, holding onto her stomach with her uninjured arm. "Let's be creative, shall we?" She mockingly cried out. She dashed towards him, picking up her staff on the way and attacking him with it endlessly. He laughed and asked if that was her best effort. She did not answer and continued to focus. The moment he took a step back, she erected a strong barrier that trapped him like a box.

"Do you think that'll stop me from breaking it?!" He yelled with a sneer on his face.

She grimaced before smiling. "I only need one second." She send her magic inside of the barrier box, exploding the inside of the box multiple times endlessly. She felt her lungs slowly collapsing the more she did this. Despite the blood that she spat out, she continued. If she was going to die anyways, she would take this bastard with her. Without stopping, she sent in all types of magic from barrier slicers like Tumaini's to explosive magic bullets. Even as she felt the curse paralyzing her, she forced her mind to keep going - not until Tumaini was dead.

By the time she was done, she took a couple of steps back, landing on her knees. She fell down to the ground, no longer feeling her body. She watched tiredly as the barrier box she made shattered into nothingness. Someone slumped down to the ground as both of their blood stained the white floor below them. The tightness in her heart somehow began to lighten up and she no longer felt the uncomfortable squeezing from before. ' _I guess it disappears when I'm about to die..._ ' She barely managed to smile wryly to herself. ' _Just when… Just when I attained level 4..._ ' She wondered if everyone else was managing their fights well and if they were still alive. That was when she finally passed out.

* * *

' _How many hours_ …' Nari glanced at her watch. She bit her lip. They only had a couple of hours. They took too long. She hated how she was so weak against the archer. She hated that she couldn't let herself go. She hated that she could not move under Ha-Eun's gaze. After all, Ha-Eun still had her arrow against her.

Strangely, Ha-Eun backed away with a disappointing gaze. "I never expected you to be so weak." She lowered her arrow. "Let yourself go already."

"I…" Nari gritted her teeth. She never allowed herself to simply _let go_ and be consumed by her emotions during battle.

"Or do you not remember that the love of your life is going to die because of your inability to grow stronger?" Ha-Eun glared at the female. "Do you not understand that you're the problem? That you are the one limiting yourself from growing any more?"

" _Kazuya…?" Nari called out from her hospital bed. "What's wrong?" He stood there silently like a statue as if wondering if everything was truly real. Feeling like something was wrong, she reached out to him. "Come to me?"_

 _He walked to her almost automatically. She grabbed his hand and gently led him to sit down on her bed. He seemed unresponsive to everything. That was when she noted the dark bags under his eyes. Usually, she was the one with sleeping problems, so she did not understand why he was losing sleep. She held his face with her hands in silence. His eyes dulled - seemingly lifeless. Her heart squeezed painfully, but she knew that she had to be his rock; she had to stay strong. "Kazuya, let's take a nap together, okay?" He nodded a little bit, which was a good sign. When he joined her in bed, she held him close, petting his hair in a soothing manner. "_ _Hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Daemones sunt hic. Et ego adsum. Itaque tu non solum. Daemones relinquo. Ego sum usque huc. Sic hush, paruulum. Hush, paruulum. Tu non solum. Ego adsum._ " _He embraced her back tightly as though he depended on her to feel like a human being again._

" _I'm a monster. I can't do anything..." He somehow whispered. She did not answer him. She continued to sing him the lullaby, hoping that it would ease some of the pain he held. She saw the way his eyes looked haunted and how it got worse - every single time he came back to see her._

 _She hated that she could not break down his walls every single time he came back from his missions to release him from his own darkness, so she kissed him softly to heal him - to make him remember that he was not a monster, but a human being. Even though she wanted to discuss the problem with him again, she knew that she could not because most of it had to do with the secrecy of the missions - if her guess was correct. So she did all that she could to erase the haunted expression on his face by the time he left her room._

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!" Nari screamed, releasing her magic all around them. Tears sprouted from the corner of her eyes. "YOU WANT TO SEE ME?! THEN SEE ME!" Nari slammed her hand against the floor. Blood began to seep out of her hands; the skin there tore. Her magic poured into the ground as sharp icicles grew, aiming for Ha-Eun.

Ha-Eun jumped backwards, avoiding the icicles that sprouted in her direction. From above her, more icicles shot down at her; she gritted her teeth and erected a barrier to protect herself. But she soon realized that it was her mistake to provoke Nari. The icicles that hit her barrier began to freeze her own barrier. "Fu-" She could not hold back both attacks at the same time. The ice soon encased her.

Nari gave out a war cry as blood trickled down her cheek from her eyes. She would kill this person and destroy the world if she needed to - if that would help her find Miyuki again. " _DIE ALREADY-!"_ When her ice froze Ha-Eun completely, she breathed heavily.

Only a few more hours left before Mariana and Miyuki would die from the curse. She shakily stood up and walked over to the next gate. She tried to push it open, but her strength had left her. She leaned against the gate door, attempting to pound on it as if that would open it. Tears streamed down her face. She tried to stop herself from crying, but for some reason, it wouldn't stop. "K-Kazuya…"

 _Before they left his room, Miyuki paused and faced her seriously. "I will not leave you alone. I will not die and leave you. I will not."_

She gave a grim smile. ' _Well… It seems like I'll be leaving you first_ …'

' _I'm sorry, Kazuya_.'

* * *

"It's not like…" Miyuki managed to stand up, feeling the effects of the curse fade away. "It's not like I didn't know… I knew that I needed to handle the harsher aspects of the job better. I knew that I needed to learn how to separate myself completely from my emotions when doing the job. IT'S NOT LIKE I IGNORED THE DARKNESS INSIDE OF ME-!" He flung himself towards Masamune and grabbed his katana with ease. "I'm not a fool, Astrophel. I knew that I refused to believe that I was as normal as any other person - to be so affected by those missions and believing myself to be a monster for fulfilling them - _as if I had no will of my own_. But I knew…"

 _His mission today was to assassinate a certain corrupt politician in a smaller city. He excelled at it as always. As expected of Miyuki Toku's son is what everyone said, but…he hated it. He hated that he had to kill someone like that with his own hands._

 _Nari sat in her hospital bed with a small smile on her face. She fidgeted with the book in her hand. She then sighed. "I wonder when…" She looked at the door. Miyuki hid behind the screen before she saw him. "I guess he's not coming today…"_

 _It was his guilty pleasure to watch her miss him in secret. He knew that he shouldn't do that, but he couldn't help it. He felt dirty - so tainted. He did not want to taint her with his darkness, but at the same time, he wanted to do that as well._

 _When another messenger eagle came to inform him of his next mission, he frowned. He didn't want to go on another one. Why did they keep sending him to so many? He didn't understand - no, he did understand - why his father was making him do this._

" _THAT IDIOT!" Nari's voice interrupted his line of thinking. He looked at her with a startled expression. It had been a while since she lashed out like that. She pouted and crossed her arms after throwing the book at the wall. It made him smile in amusement. "Why is he so busy with those missions?!" She glared at the wall before deflating. "I just want him right next to me… Is that so hard to ask…?" Tears seemed to well up in her eyes. She wiped it away with her arm and sighed to herself._

 _He was going to go comfort her then, but in that moment, another messenger eagle told him to hurry up and go to the meeting point. He sighed softly to himself and smiled at Nari gently, feeling regretful for not being with her for even a minute when he had the chance. He soon turned his heel and left the room for his mission, feeling himself drowning in the darkness once more._

"I never wanted to kill someone in such a dishonorable way. I'm a swordsman, not an assassin. And yet, I'm being forced to be an assassin - a covert operative." Miyuki snarled, bringing down his katana against the Demon King's sword. His water magic flared around him, violently expressing his mental state. "I know that I'm dark - I KNOW THAT I'M ONLY MAKING EXCUSES!" He brought down a huge stream of water that shaped into two dragons towards Astrophel.

"Then what are you going to do about it?" The Demon King remained calm, blocking his attacks one-by-one with his barriers.

" _Remember," one of the trainers for the missions commented, "You must not show your emotions. You must remain calm. You need to erase everything inside of you. If you fail to separate the you during the missions and the you in real life, you will destroy yourself in the end."_

Miyuki thought that it sounded simple, but he was terribly wrong. He didn't know how to do it - even though he understood it theoretically. It was only after Nari forced his father to stop sending him to so many missions that he learned how to do it. But the scars and horrors that he experienced during the earlier missions left a permanent mark on him.

He finally answered the Demon King in a whisper, "Separate...and become one." All traces of emotion faded from his eyes as he flipped the switch to feel nothing. He continued his fervent attacks against the Demon King like a machine. His movements became sharper and more precise.

When Miyuki's lips tugged into a wide smirk, the Demon King knew that he finally found the answer to his problem. He inwardly smiled and allowed Miyuki to attack him with all of his water magic. "You have reached the pinnacle, Miyuki Kazuya…" Astrophel murmured, watching in amazement at the way Miyuki's darkness intertwined with his water magic. "There is never a black and white in magic. There is never good and bad in magic. There is only magic - the embodiment of our soul."

"ASTROPHEL!" Miyuki cried out, bringing down his katana towards the Demon King as his powerful water magic lashed out like a feral animal.

"COME! SHOW ME YOUR MAGIC!" Astrophel raised his sword to meet Miyuki's katana. His own magic flared around him ferociously. "AND BECOME WHO YOU REALLY ARE, MIYUKI KAZUYA!"

Blood flowed from Miyuki's shoulder and stomach, but he ignored it, focusing all of his magic and power into this one attack. " _DIE-!_ "

The impact of both attacks erupted into a powerful explosion that made both fly into the opposite direction. Miyuki slammed against the wall. He slipped down and could barely stay conscious. "I… I will not die here." The blood gathered below him as his vision blurred. His glasses broke in the midst of battle, so he could not see if his opponent had died, but when he felt the curse disappear inside of him, he knew then that he won the battle.

 _Pitter patter… Pitter patter…_

The rain that he accidentally made from the tsunami attack drenched him to the bone. He breathed heavily, attempting to keep his eyes open. " _Nari… I'm…_ " He tried to move, but his body felt too heavy. " _I…_ " Before he could complete his sentence, his consciousness finally faded away - _against his will_.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Second to last update!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

Nari's eyes fluttered open. For some reason, she was inside of a white room. ' _Medical ward…?_ ' It took her a minute before she checked her watch. It was still on her wrist, but she found that she was still wearing her tattered clothing from when she fought against Ha-Eun.

' _Time's up._ '

Her heart dropped. Twenty four hours have already passed. In fact, it had been thirty six hours since she passed out. "No…" Her fingers tightened around the blanket. "No. NO!" She tried to get out of the bed when she winced from the pain. It seemed like she has yet to heal completely from the battle, so she continued to stay in bed, sitting up.

"If I had…" If she had accessed her powers better… If she had beaten her opponent faster… Then would Kazuya and Mariana still be alive? Tears sprouted from her ears as each droplet made its mark on the blanket. " _Ngh_ …" She covered her mouth with her hand. Something painful squeezed at her heart; she felt like she was suffocating. "Ka… M…" She couldn't even say their names, due to feeling ashamed about how she was still alive and slept while they were subjected to an unjustifiable curse of death.

Nari bit her lip hard. She breathed hard. Tears dropped one by one. Her hands glistened from the wetness of her tears. She sniffled, trying to stop herself from being loud, but eventually, a soft sorrowful cry ripped out of her throat unwillingly. She covered her mouth again, shutting her eyes tightly. The tears wouldn't stop. Her heart felt like it was being ripped into shreds. ' _Why couldn't I die instead?_ '

" _Ka-Kazuya…_ " She gathered her legs close to her and used her knees to cover her face. Her back still hurt and she felt bruised everywhere, but she couldn't care less. One of her best friends had died and she no longer… She whispered to herself, " _Kazuya…_ " The person she loved the most left her without giving her one last chance to hold him close. "I'm sorry…"

Someone sat down on the bed and pulled her to their chest as they wrapped their arms around her. "Why are you sorry?" Her heart almost stopped.

' _It couldn't be..._ ' When she looked up, she found herself staring into Miyuki's brown orbs. His glasses, his messy windswept brown hair, and his amber brown eyes… She wondered briefly if she was hallucinating, but the warmth radiating from him felt real. He was still alive… "...Kazuya…" She touched his cheek with her hand gingerly.

"Yes…?" He no longer carried a shadow in his eyes. He looked released and free - _just like the old days_.

"Kazuya." She called out his name again as he wiped the tears off of her cheek with his thumb.

He chuckled under his breath. "Yes. I'm here and we're not dead yet. And this isn't heaven, so don't worry." She held him close again to see if it really was him. He let her do this without comment. "I won't leave you again."

"Kazuya… Kazuya. Kazuya, Kazuya-" She mumbled. Tears trickled down her cheeks; they just wouldn't stop. And so like a child, she finally sobbed out loud, releasing her worries and anxiety in one go. Her grip on him tightened. " _Ngh_ …" She breathed heavily, unwilling to let go of him.

When she seemed to calm down again, he finally whispered reassurances to her, leaving feathery kisses on her face while wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I'm here… _I'm here now…_ "

* * *

Everyone looked at Astrophel and his generals blankly. He coughed into his hand before apologizing to the team. "It couldn't be helped. As I said before, you were taking too long to level up - _no_ … You didn't take too long. In fact, you all had lots of potential, which is why you were able to level up to level 3 in two years, but at the rate you were going, I had no choice but to use extreme methods to get you to level up to level 4. Not to mention, I had to test your resolves and mental strength."

"Well you did just that - making us level up to 4. You've done the impossible. I mean we never even heard of five people reaching level 4 at the same time in our studies. In fact, level 4 was assumed to not even exist. So you performed a miracle." Mariana asked, "So now what? What do we need to do next?"

"You will be training with the person you fought against." The Demon King glanced at Miyuki. The water user nodded.

Abdullah approached Shindo and gave him a pat on the back with a grin. "Let's have an intense training session, eh?" Shindo could barely smile at that. In fact, he actually disliked the man a little.

"I look forward to working with you, Nari. Also, I apologize for my harsh words and actions during our battle." Ha-Eun shook Nari's hand professionally.

"Nothing to worry about. No offense taken. You had a point to your words and actions anyways, so I actually appreciate it." Nari replied with a firm smile.

Tumaini was about to wrap his arm around Mariana when he quickly kept his hands to himself, noting the sharp gaze on him from Astrophel. "Let's do our best then, Rombustelli." She nodded absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off of the Demon King.

"Well - wind girl, I'm going to whip you into shape, so you better be prepared for some hard training!" Tala poked Hotaru's shoulder with her finger. She held a haughty look on her face.

"Right…" Hotaru sighed in a resigned manner for a change.

* * *

Nari stood quietly at the table as she was introduced to the other noble girls. One woman, in particular, caught her attention. She had long blonde hair with doe-like eyes. Her smile seemed innocent and pure, but for some reason, there was something about her that bothered the ice user.

Thankfully, Nari trusted her intuition a lot, due to it helping her avoid the truly warped, fake, or deceitful people - whether it was in this world or in her previous world. She tried to stay away from the pretty woman, but she seemed adamant about sitting next to her.

If it wasn't for Lauren Rombustelli who ordered her to go the last group meeting that had to do with perfecting etiquette and manners, she would not have joined this class at all. The duties they had to do for the class reminded her of the English's old tea parties. It wore her out quickly.

"It's boring here, isn't it?" The blonde haired woman attempted to talk to her again.

"Hm…" Nari made a small noise of agreement, trying to tune out everyone, while doing her best to maintain a polite facade. If doing this would help her avoid talking to people, she would do it - no matter what.

"You're Kazuya's girlfriend, aren't you?" That was when Nari finally looked at the beautiful woman. She now knew why she had a bad feeling about this woman.

"I don't think that you're close to him anymore, Ada Farkas. Be careful with your words... Or has no one taught you to not use people's first name without their permission?" Nari narrowed her eyes at the woman. She would not let her go through with whatever plans she had in mind. The fact that Ada used Miyuki's first name irritated her. It only proved that there was a high possibility that Ada Farkas wanted Miyuki Kazuya back for herself. ' _I will not let you hurt him again. He's mine to protect!_ '

She continued her innocent act, putting curls of her long silky blonde hair behind her ear. "Ah… I apologize. It's just that I was close to him and-"

Nari slammed her hand against the table, making all of the females flinch. She stood up and coldly stared at the woman. "What is it that you want? To irritate me?" Nari then trapped Ada in her seat as the ice user held the arms of her chair tightly. "Why should I care if you were close to him before? If you two were lovers in the past, then obviously you would have been close to him. Seriously… Are you stupid? Or is your brain that miniscule that you think that I care to listen to your words about your past that will always remain in the past and has no place in the present and future?"

"I… I apologize." Ada shrunk into her chair. For some reason, her heart trembled with excitement. She unknowingly shivered. If Nari had been a male, she definitely would have preferred her over Miyuki Kazuya and her current fiancé. Maybe then she wouldn't have been tempted to cheat in the first place… She bit her bottom lip nervously under Nari's intense gaze.

Feeling satisfied about taming Ada, Nari sat back down in her seat and sipped at her tea. Her eyes narrowed at everyone, daring them to go against her. When she found that they continued to mind their own business, she felt herself pleased about the situation.

' _Finally… Peace and quiet… Oh, how I hate crowds as always…_ '

* * *

"Is there something that you want from me?" Miyuki stared at the male who glared at him ferociously.

"I challenge you to a battle, Miyuki Kazuya!" They snarled in anger.

"And you are?" He had no interest in a person who he could not consider to be his enemy.

"I am Bruce Williams - Ada's fiancé." They took out their sabre from its sheath. Aiming it at Miyuki, he announced. "Miyuki Kazuya, accept my challenge!"

Miyuki sighed, feeling like it was a pain. When he noticed Nari and his previous partner, his eyes darkened. He ignored Bruce and walked over to the two females. "Farkas, what do you think you're doing with Nari?" His warning tone made the blonde haired female wince.

She smiled warmly at her previous fiancé. "I was just talking to her. Today was her last day of class for etiquettes and manners. Is there a problem with talking to a fellow classmate?" Her heart thudded hard in her chest. Seeing her old lover act so fierce and manly made her almost infatuated with him again. It didn't help that his jawline was sharp and he definitely grew well. He seemed more of a man than her current fiancé. She wondered once more if there was a possibility to get together with him again. At the very least, she knew that Miyuki would treat her well if they were together.

Nari walked over to him and held his face gently, still remembering her fears about his death after the battle against the Demon King's generals. "...Kazuya." Ada stiffened as she saw the way Miyuki looked at her that differed greatly from when they were together in the past.

His eyes softened when his gaze landed on her again. "If you're bothered by her, then tell me."

"You know that I have better things to worry about." She laughed freely before pecking him on the cheek. She knew that such intimacies bothered the blonde girl, so she had no trouble doing that in front of her - even though it was technically not allowed in a public setting when nobles were around. Nevertheless, she did want the girl to understand that Miyuki Kazuya was hers and that if she tried to even take him away from her, she would not let it go that easily... Nari smiled at Miyuki again. "Are you going to fight that guy?" She motioned to Bruce. "He seems a bit…"

"Who cares about him." Miyuki snorted - very intent on ignoring the angry male.

She chuckled under her breath. "But isn't it better to take care of the bud before it becomes a problem in the future? You know… Risk management and all…"

He absorbed her words carefully before smiling. "You have a point. Then what will you do as risk management?"

"Perhaps - what you intend to do after you win…" Nari hinted. His eyes widened when he noted that his girlfriend knew what he had planned to do at the end of the day. His lips widened into a soft smile.

He went down on one knee and held her hand, kissing the palm of it - rather than the back, showing their intimacy with one another. "Then for you, Nari Reyes, I will win the challenge and come back to you - _safe and sound._ "

She also went down on her knee and took his hands, touching them lightly with her lips. "In that case, I will wait for news of your victory, Miyuki Kazuya." Ada's eyes widened in shock as if in disbelief over their interactions.

He smirked and stood up before walking over to Bruce to accept his challenge. Nari straightened her clothes as she guided Ada to a safe area. Ada looked at her seriously. "You just instigated a tradition - an old Miyuki tradition. You do realize that?"

"Is that a problem?" Nari locked eyes with the noble female who experienced no hardships. She did not want to explain herself to someone who had no place in their relationship.

Ada shrunk back into her chair. "No…" It was then that she fully understood that she had no chance of trying to get Miyuki back for herself because the girl before her was stronger and more charismatic than she could ever be.

"If I win this battle, then you will leave Ada alone. And if I lose, then you will marry Ada." Bruce looked at Ada with sad eyes. He clearly loved the blonde haired woman, but she could care less about him. The moment he said those conditions, Ada's eyes shimmered with hope. Nari glanced at Bruce distastefully.

"I refuse to accept your challenge under those conditions." Miyuki's eyes narrowed. "If I win, then you will make sure that Farkas never enters into Nari's and my vicinity. If I lose, then you can choose what I need to do, but if you ask me to marry Farkas, I would rather kill myself than look at her again." While Nari didn't exactly approve of him wanting to kill himself because of that, she did like the sentiments of his words. Ada's face blanched.

Bruce stared at him incredulously. "Fine. I accept those conditions."

"Then steady your sabre." Miyuki unsheathed his katana. "One hit, one win."

Nari released her magic into the air. "READY." Her voice cried out. "START!"

Miyuki dashed forward. As if in slow motion, he watched as Bruce tried to look for him before realizing that his opponent was already in front of him. He never realized how much stronger he became. Ever since they started to train separately from the students for two straight years, they never had practical fights against those their age. Instead, they had to fight those who were way stronger than them and that never changed - even as they trained hard with the Demon King's generals. In seconds, he slammed the hilt of his sword against Bruce's stomach. The young man flew to the other side of the garden. He used very little of his strength and yet, it ended up like this without using any of his magic. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oops."

Nari sighed. She used her magic to bring Bruce back to where they were with her ice. She glanced at the big bruise that formed on his stomach. Ada flinched when she saw the huge purple mark. She never thought that Miyuki would be this powerful. For once in her life, she felt guilty towards her fiancé for always taking advantage of his kindness, but never once, gave back anything to him. She finally held his hand worriedly. "Will he be okay?" Ada asked quietly. Nari focused her healing magic on Bruce's stomach.

When she finished, she smiled gently at Ada. "He'll be fine after he gets some rest. He broke some ribs and almost broke his back, but thankfully, he used his barrier to cushion the crash and not get himself killed. If he hadn't, then he could have died or could have gotten paralyzed for life." The information she gave to Ada overwhelmed her. Just hearing that he could have died or could have gotten paralyzed because of her made her tear up. She whispered apologies to her fiancé. "It's okay. I made sure to fix his ribs and the bruise should go away after a few hours. As for the ache in his body, that should also disappear after a day."

"Okay." Ada sniffled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Nari patted the girl kindly before turning her attention towards Miyuki. She raised her eyebrow at him. "Was that really necessary? Or were you really unable to control your strength?"

He smiled wryly. "For some reason, it's hard to control my strength. Might be because I have to go all out everyday against Astrophel, so I no longer remember what is considered to be normal strength."

She sighed. "I guess, after everything is over, we're going to have to practice how to control our powers completely."

"Yeah…" He looked at the unconscious Bruce apologetically. He then faced Nari again with a serious expression. He went down on one knee again and held her hand. "I bring you news of victory, my lady."

"I congratulate you of your victory." Nari smoothly replied.

"Then I ask for your hand…" He paused, unsure as to how he should proceed. For once in his life, his mind went blank. The nerves were getting to him, despite not outwardly showing it at all.

"My hand for what?" She gently asked.

He managed to smile confidently at her. "I ask for your hand in marriage."

"But shouldn't you ask my parents first?" She teased. He couldn't help but smirk.

He pulled her into his arms and whispered, "Unfortunately, for them, I don't care about asking them for your hand in marriage because you're the person I want - not them."

"Then say the words…" Nari leaned her forehead against his. "Instigate it - the tradition."

"Are you sure? There is no turning back." His gaze turned heated. "Magic, after all, is more permanent than papers and verbal words."

She locked eyes with him before saying, " _I will not lose you again._ "

With those final words from her, his lips touched her forehead and he whispered, " _Nos defendat. Tibi promitto._ " His magic smoothly surrounded them, curling around them as if promising protection. "Your answer?"

" _Et ego promitto._ " Her magic intertwined with his, creating a beautiful array of blue lights around them.

Together, they held hands and leaned their forehead against each other. " _Non fiet unum. Tibi promitto._ " When they both said it at the same time, strings of their magic braided together, forming it into flares of sky blue lights.

"With this, our engagement is complete and no one can take you away from me. The magic from the old Miyuki tradition and our magic have tied us together." Miyuki held her close, caressing her hair with his fingers.

"With the Farkas and Williams Family as witness… With the sun, the trees, the wind… With nature as our witness, no matter what happens in the future…" She touched his cheek with her hand. "We will always belong to each other."

"As we already were from the start." He happily grinned, ignoring anyone who saw them and only focusing on his new fianceé with a fervent gaze. He never felt this overjoyed, except for when they first got together or when he first kissed Nari. Actually, he changed his mind; there were many things that made him overjoyed when it came to her. He immediately picked her up from the ground and swung her around as she yelled at him to put her down. He then held her legs in his arms, making her look down at him with a displeased expression.

"Kazuya…" She warned. Her eye twitched, indicating her irritation towards him.

"You don't have to forgive me this time." He murmured before capturing her lips with his own feverishly. She decided to just let it go this time and let him have his way with her for the day.

By the end of it, amusement and joy lingered in both of their expressions when they came back to the house to announce to everyone about their engagement.

* * *

"We'll take a break now. Come back in four hours. I have something I need to do." Tumaini informed Mariana who nodded. The moment she saw her mentor disappear, she fell down to the ground, heaving hard. She never realized how much work it took to keep up with her teacher.

"I guess our win during the battles were all a fluke." She managed to whisper out. She felt a little cheated when thinking of it in that way. It was moments like this when she remembered that it had been a while since she last saw Astrophel. Shaking her head, she reprimanded herself for acting like an infatuated little girl. "I must not act like that again." She stood back up and practiced the moves that Tumaini taught her earlier over and over again in hopes to stop herself from thinking about unnecessary things.

"Mariana." A familiar voice that she desperately hoped to forget called out to her. She paused in her practice, finally turning around to face the man she did not want to see.

"Astrophel." She flatly said. He winced a little at her tone.

He finally recollected himself and coolly said, "I see that you're practicing hard."

"Isn't that obvious? What do you want?" She decided to ignore him, despite how much her heart raced under his presence.

"I suppose you won't forgive me for doing that." He murmured to himself. She caught his words and looked at him incredulously.

"I don't fault you on that, but you haven't even asked me if I was okay or anything. Are we even..." She gave a short pause before sighing. "Why did you kiss me when you didn't need to do that in order to give me the curse? And why did you cover my eyes?"

"...I…" He wondered if it was a good idea that he came to check up on her or not. He sighed. "I covered your eyes because I didn't want you to see me like that… Like a cruel person. And I kissed you because I like you and I wasn't sure if you would accept me after that…"

Her eyes widened at his admittance, but more than that, she felt her cheeks burn red. "You...like me?"

"From the start, I found you as worthy. That is why I trained you, but the more we spent time together, the more I found myself enraptured by you... Mariana… Do you find it unpleasant that someone as old as me admires you and wishes to be with you?" The Demon King waited for her response patiently.

She shook her head. "I do not find it unpleasant. In fact, I am proud that you deem me as worthy. And I am most willing to accept your advances."

He finally stood in front of her, holding onto her hands. "Then may I kiss you?" The innocence in his question made her smile.

"Yes." With that, his lips touched hers gently as though he was afraid that he might hurt her with his strength. She soon proved that she was not as delicate as he once thought.

* * *

The stars sparkled in the sky above, the constellations clearer than ever as Hotaru placed her head on Shindo's shoulder.

"When this is all over… I want to call you my wife, not my girlfriend."

A muffled squeal left her as she hid her face in his arm. "Well, I always prefered lover over either," she said, poking her head out for a second.

"Let's get married, after all of this," he continued, turning his intense gaze onto her.

Her face lit up like a strawberry, similar to the fireflies dancing around them. "I promised myself to you a long time ago, Yoh."

"Good," he whispered with a smirk as he leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. "Because you're _mine_."

Just as intended, the flush on her face darkened as she clutched onto his shirt as he deepened their kiss.

* * *

"I gathered you all here for a reason." Astrophel's eyes darkened. "My power won't be able to hold back the release of the Ancient One for the full four years anymore. He's getting stronger everyday and that's not helping the situation."

"Then how many years do we have left?" Shindo asked.

"Only a year left." He answered firmly. Everyone's expression turned solemn.

"It's already been half a year…" Hotaru whispered to herself. "One more year…? That's so little."

"But we have no choice." Nari interrupted everyone's serious thoughts. "Since we have no choice, then let's accept it and move on. We should spend each minute of our time to prepare for the upcoming battle."

"She's right. Let's not lose focus now." Ha-Eun squeezed Nari's shoulder with approval in her eyes. "You all are now at middle of level 4. We can grow stronger together and when the time comes, we'll defeat the monster with all of our strengths combined."

"Our skills, our knowledge, our experiences, our strengths… All of these will form into one power." Miyuki looked at each of his comrades intensely. "Whether we are dark or light, that no longer matters. We have only one enemy. And that enemy can destroy our world and plunge everyone into absolute darkness. Some of us have experienced first-hand of that darkness." He paused and looked at Astrophel and his generals. "Others haven't, so we need to mentally, emotionally, and physically prepare ourselves for the rest of the time that we have."

"Then let's get started with training already!" Tala cried out as she dragged Hotaru away from the group.

Everyone finally smiled in amusement before heading off to their respective training areas as well.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Last chapter of the series! I never realized how short this series was until now. Pretty amazed at how I finished this fanfic in two weeks though with my cowriter. Hope you enjoy the last chapter!**

 **'** _ **words**_ **' = personal thoughts  
** _ **words**_ **= onomatopoeia OR dream OR memory  
"words" = dialogue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia and Diamond no Ace.**

* * *

"Hotaru, we are the only ones who are the most experienced with sealing magic." Mariana grabbed Hotaru by the arm to get her attention. "Let's work together to figure out the best sealing technique that can slowly destroy that monster while it's trapped in there…"

"I heard that its subordinates are also trapped in there, so we'll have to figure out how to contain and destroy them as well." Hotaru sighed as they walked to the school's big library. "Then will we be spending our time researching and tweaking the seal incantation during our breaks?"

"We have no choice, do we? The deadline is coming up and since we know that the Demon King's sealing technique isn't going to work anymore, we have no choice but to make sure that there are no loopholes anymore in all of the conditional logic." Mariana grumbled, slamming the entrance door open. "After all, forever is not eternal…"

Hotaru almost pulled out her hair when thinking about how much work they have to do for the upcoming year. "Are Tumaini and Abdullah going to help us?"

"They will, but we'll start researching first." Mariana took out a few support magic textbooks from the bookshelves and then piled them up on top of a nearby desk. "C'mon. Let's get started."

"Augh, okay." Hotaru also dropped a pile of books on top of the desk next to Mariana's.

* * *

Nari stared blankly at the newly structured room in their house. "Why is it that our rooms are now next to each other? And why is there a door in between our rooms?" She didn't know whether to glare at Miyuki for this change or if it was magically done, thanks to their engagement. But when she thought about it, this change didn't happen right after the completion of their engagement ceremony.

He coughed in his hand. "I'm not really sure." It seemed like he really didn't know why it ended up like that. "But… Is it that bad?"

"I do like my privacy. No offense, Kazuya." She raised her eyebrow at him. "I need my alone time to recharge since I am an introvert, you know."

"Right… But this way, we can snea-" Nari glared at him, shutting him up. He still couldn't resist the temptation to grin playfully at her. "I can't help that I want to show how much I love you in the privacy of our rooms."

"I already have plenty of people in my room. I don't need a third." Her words made his smile freeze in place.

" _What…_?" It was impossible for there to be two people in her room without his knowledge. What was she talking about?

She walked over to her bed and hugged the big black bear with glasses on it tightly. "See? I already have Miyuki 1." Immediately after, she grabbed the small male panda doll as well. "And Miyuki 2."

"...Messing with me like that." He sighed, feeling a little worn from racking his brain to figure out which people she was talking about. She skipped over to him gleefully and pecked him on the cheek.

She still held Miyuki 1 in her arms. "Awww, were you worried?" She tilted her head.

He scoffed. "It's not that I was worried, but it made me wonder if my girlfriend was starting to hallucinate. There are not many who could enter your room without me knowing." Nari threw Miyuki 1 back to her bed.

She raised her eyebrow at that and rolled her eyes. "Perhaps…" She then stuck out her tongue before grabbing his arm and swinging them back and forth.

"I suppose I also have enough company in my own room." Miyuki murmured.

She stifled a laugh. "And I suppose that's the female panda?"

"I call her, Nari 2," he kissed her on the forehead. "Because you're my number one." They froze in place. She blinked. He blinked.

She shuddered. "That was cheesy as fuck. Don't ever say that again."

He rubbed the temple of his head. "I probably never will. That was horrible."

"Good. I'm glad that we agree." They nodded at each other.

It took them a few minutes of comfortable silence before Miyuki casually suggested with a serious expression. "Then do you want to test out the door between our rooms?" He was clearly joking around.

Her eyebrow twitched. She was about to make a sarcastic comment, but thought about it some more before smirking. "...Fine." As she expected, his eyes widened briefly before narrowing at her. She took a step towards him. He watched her approach him in an alluring manner. She then threw a coy smile in his direction as she slowly pulled his collar towards her.

When they locked eyes, he breathed out with a strained rough voice, "And how exactly should we test that door?"

A mischievous glint twinkled in her eyes. " _Isn't it…_ " She glanced at his lips before looking into his eyes again. He swallowed. " _...obvious?_ " Their lips were so close to each other. He could already imagine the feel of them on his. He effortlessly shut the door behind them and clicked on the lock with his water magic. He was about to close the distance between them when she suddenly twirled around. He blinked in surprise. She then dashed for the door between their rooms and flung it open. "AND I'M THE FIRST TO OPEN IT!" Without giving him a chance to process what had just occurred, she entered his room with glee.

He blinked again. His eyes finally narrowed in annoyance. "You… _Tease_ …" He breathed heavily, thinking about how he'll get her for that sooner or later. " _You little minx_ …" Did she not understand how much she was affecting him? He covered his face with the palm of his hand. He needed to calm down before he could chase her or else it could turn very awkward - _fast_. He took steadied breaths, thinking of anything that would dampen his mood to get a hold of himself again.

Nari's head popped out from the room as she sent him a bright smile. "C'mon! Come test out the door!"

"Of course." His smile was still rigid. He hadn't calmed down at all and she was right there. He tried to casually walk towards her; by the time he reached her, he knew that he needed to stay away. So he was about to make an excuse to leave the room and take a cold shower when Nari suddenly wrapped his necktie around his neck. She pulled him towards her with it.

"I caught you." She softly whispered to him.

"Sly..." He commented before he felt her capture his lips with her own. He finally smiled into the kiss as he held her close in his arms.

* * *

A couple of months passed by quickly.

Shindo and Miyuki wore their official garbs that showed that they were part of the Noble Five as they approached the rest of the heirs of the Noble Five and the Crown Prince. In Shindo's hand, he held a huge file that contained an enormous amount of papers.

"Shindo Yoh. Miyuki Kazuya." The Crown Prince acknowledged them when they bowed respectfully to him. "Stand and report."

Miyuki took the initiative since his status was a little higher than Shindo's, due to being the heir to the Miyuki Family. "As we have told you a few years ago that allowed us to be the crusader candidates… The time has come for humanity to support us."

"Are you saying that you found a way to destroy this - _monster_?" Alger inquired.

Shindo answered, "Yes... After months of heavy research and testing, Hotaru and Mariana discovered the best sealing incantation and technique with the help of their mentors."

"Then how can we help you?" Shindo's older brother, Daichi, maintained a serious expression that his younger brother found to be very - _unnerving_.

"Even if Hotaru and Mariana are strong enough to do the incantation by themselves, we need the help of every Support and Defense Magic Specialists for the upcoming battle. The more people, the better… While we are strong, it'll be easier for us to focus on the fight - rather than trying to handle everything by ourselves." Miyuki explained himself.

Shindo also added, "We have someone on our side who is capable of creating a teleportation door with the mirrors they create, so once the battle begins, people can easily go back and forth between the battlefield and the safety zone - in case they need to recover or get something important from the Capital." He then handed over the file to his older brother. "Please have all of the Support and Defense Magic Specialists to memorize this."

"And this is?" Daichi asked.

Shindo ruffled his hair, wondering if he covered everything that they wanted to tell them in the first place. "The incantation to the sealing. They need to master it and… I believe Mariana and Hotaru also want to practice the sealing technique with them a few times before the actual battle, including their mentors who will be joining us in the upcoming battle."

The Crown Prince nodded. "Understood. We will gather and prepare the forces for you in the next few days. Daichi will send you a message when it's done. He will also send a message to you when all of the specialists memorized and mastered the technique. That shouldn't take more than two weeks."

"Thank you very much, Crown Prince." They both bowed towards him with their hands in front of them respectfully.

* * *

The Demon King stood tall as he set up a strong barrier around the area. He did not want any of the _true demons_ to enter the settlements nearby. "Are you ready to die?"

" _I'm ready to live_." Hotaru managed to say. She breathed hard, trying to calm her nerves. Even so, she still trembled.

"We won't die today. This time, the ones to die will be the Ancient One and his minions." Shindo wrapped his arm around Hotaru, helping her calm down again.

Ha-Eun put her hand on Mariana's shoulder. "We'll be there to back you guys up. So relax and do your thing."

"Thank you, Ha-Eun." Mariana smiled at the archer warmly. They became pretty close after a couple of interactions with each other in the last couple of months.

"It's coming." Miyuki commented. Nari's grip on her dagger tightened. In seconds, a dark energy flashed from the sky and lightning hit the ground several times before silence took over.

Nari gritted her teeth. The moment everyone blinked, the entire area became black. A horribly heavy black fog that reminded her of smoke took over. She spread her magic around her lightly to send where everyone was and what everyone was doing. It was at that moment that she sensed an abnormality.

Nari choked, feeling like someone tore at her flesh and suffocated her by stuffing her mouth with something sticky. She gagged and almost fell to her knees. _She saw her own death._ Sweat trickled down her forehead. ' _Their bloodlust is incomparable._ '

She didn't even have enough time to process everything when something hard slammed into her stomach; she flew across the field, breaking trees, as she wrapped herself with her barrier magic. Without waiting, she put her hands in front of her, shooting out ice spears towards her opponent. She then jumped into the air in time. The monstrous demon destroyed everything in its path. It gave a loud roar that made her fly further away. She hated the fog; it was hard enough to fight against such a horrifying demon, but she couldn't even see where she was going. She bit her bottom lip out of frustration. ' _KILL IT. KILL IT BEFORE IT GETS ME._ ' She felt one of its tentacles crash into her side and she coughed, falling to the ground. She immediately healed her bruise and brought up a strong ice barrier as it pounded against it violently. A large energy burst shot through the demon. It was an energy that she never felt before - _evil and hellish._

"Little girl…" A human-looking creature looked down at her. Their eyes glowed an icy blue color as their black hair serenely flowed with the breeze. Their skin - an unnatural grey - indicated their inhumanity. What she didn't understand was why he wore clothes. He was clearly a demon - _a true demon._ "Are you here to die?"

She stood up. "I don't know." She couldn't find the answer to his question. Was she here to die or to live? "Are you here to live?"

"...What a foolish question." There was something in his eyes that indicated his will to live. " _I am here to rule._ "

" _NARI, RUN-_ " Hotaru's scream pierced the air. Several explosions occurred in the direction of her best friend.

Nari, however, continued to focus her attention on the demon before her. Even if she wanted to run, she could not. The demon in front of her felt more powerful than any other demon she could sense inside of the Demon King's barrier. "Who are you."

"I am…" He took a step towards her. "The one you humans call as the Ancient One." Her heart almost stopped at his words.

"Why did you kill your minion?" Nari took a step back, hoping to distract him with this question.

"It is a failure - unable to think." His voice remained monotonous and - _so devoid of emotions._ "Human… Tell me…" She took a steady breath as a barrier covered her in case of any sudden attacks. "What is the difference between you and me? What is the difference between humans and us demons?"

"The difference… Why do you want to know?" From the Demon King's memory, the monster never looked like this; they never looked so human. What happened after it took over Lexi Abbot's body? Did her mind and emotions - _her heart_ \- affect the appearance of the monster and its intelligence?

She suddenly couldn't move. His cold hand touched her cheek. "So warm… So… odd." He locked eyes with her. "And yet, even within humans, there is a darkness that remains… A darkness that appears when the time is right. There are no differences between you and me. There are no differences between humans and demons. You kill. You hate. You torture. You rape. You steal. You hurt. You desire."

"Perhaps, some humans do what you guys do. They might kill, hate, torture, rape, steal, hurt, and desire others, but… Most of us are capable of stopping ourselves from doing such an act." She answered quietly. "But above all…" Her eyes flashed of something that the Ancient One could not discern. She released a large wave of ice towards him. "WE PROTECT!"

She gritted her teeth, bringing her dagger above her. "You asked me if I was here to die. No… I AM HERE TO FIGHT-!" She dashed towards the Ancient One - fully intent on stopping him from reaching anyone else. ' _At least until… UNTIL EVERYONE IS READY-_ ' She slashed at him ferociously without stopping. Each hit she made released ice on his skin and around them. "WHAT IS THE POINT IN ASKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES WHEN YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" She screamed out, not willing to let him have a turn at attacking her back.

"Why can't I understand?" The way he casually asked that irritated her; she just wanted to fight him and yet the Ancient One only wanted to talk.

" _Because you have no one that you want to protect_." She sent her magic to her fingertips and jabbed at the demon ruthlessly. Each touch dug into the nerves and tore into the flesh from the inside. She could feel his blood gushing out of the wounds she made. The glowing eyes of the demon flashed a light that blinded her for a moment. She pulled up a barrier when that happened, feeling it crack under his sudden attack. ' _Is this all I can do by myself? Are they not done yet?_ ' She erected another ice barrier and forced it to trap the demon. She slammed her hand against it, ejecting sharp icicles inside of it like a trap hole.

" _Nari!_ " She could hear Miyuki from a short distance away. Her hands touched the barrier once more, solidifying it slowly, as she murmured chants to seal him inside of it.

Her vision blurred.

Something stabbed through her chest. Her heart shuddered. She could still see the ice and she could still see that the Ancient One remained inside of it. She bit her teeth hard, ignoring the dropping temperature inside of her. ' _I will… kill you._ ' She would not fall; _she must not fail._

Her magic immediately crackled, thundering around her violently. There were no enemies around her, but why… Why is it that she felt so… She coughed - unable to feel her hands. " _Subjugaret daemonium_." She poured her magic into the ice barrier. From afar, she could feel that everyone was ready to seal away the monster permanently. ' _I can do this… I'll make it in time…_ '

Before she could complete her own seal, Miyuki shoved her away from the ice barrier. She fell to the ground in a slump, not realizing that she was pushed away. It was then when she saw the dark energy tainting her own magic as the black fog began to dissipate around them. ' _NO-_ '

Miyuki stabbed Masamune into the ice. He cried out as his water magic began to purify the dark energy that was tainting the ice, " _Subjugaret daemonium-_ "

" _Foolish humans… Do you really think that such a measly seal will stop me?_ " Even though they could see that the demon wasn't talking, his voice echoed in their minds.

Nari crumpled down the ground, writhing and shrieking out in pain. She scratched at her chest as she felt something rip out of her. The ice disintegrated and the demon was released. She barely lifted her head to scream out, " _KAZUYA-!_ "

The demon held Miyuki by the neck, lifting him up effortlessly. She struggled to drag herself over to them. Tears welled up in her eyes. They fell one by one. " _Ngh_ … Kazuya…" She did not want her weakness to fail another person - _to fail the person she loves._ ' _No… Not again… I won't let it happen ever again…_ '

"So you care for this human the most." The Ancient One looked at her dispassionately. "Then let us test the differences between us." He turned his gaze back to Miyuki. His dark energy began to slowly consume Miyuki's body.

"I WON'T LET YOU, YOU BASTARD-" From her body, her magic burst into bright lights as she aimed the majority of it towards the two of them.

The demon didn't even face her as he flicked the attack with his finger, making it disappear in a millisecond. "Do not interfere, little girl." He swiped his hand in her direction, pushing a strong force that slammed her against the tree. Blood began to pool underneath her. She could taste it in her mouth.

Before the darkness could consume Miyuki completely, Masamune flashed out shimmering light blue lights; it absorbed everyone in the vicinity. The demon cried out in surprise as he dropped Miyuki to the ground to get out of the light. ' _Masamune is protecting Kazuya… It really...does...have a will of its own…_ ' Nari did her best to not faint as she slowly healed herself with some of her magic. ' _I have to hurry… I have to hurry up and get him away from that monster..._ '

"Hm… No matter… Some of my darkness has already entered him." The Ancient One held a sinister smile. "I should be able to control him with no problems."

Nari bit her bottom lip. This couldn't be happening… She couldn't. She couldn't believe that this was happening. As Miyuki stood up in an abnormal manner with Masamune in his hand, he approached Nari - step after step. She tried to move, but she was still badly injured from the attack. "K-Kazuya…" Her teeth chattered.

She had to experience the death of her loved ones… She had to kill the demons by herself.

 _All at the age of thirteen._

She had to live like an unspeakable prisoner. She had to relive her nightmares over and over - every night without stop.

 _All at the age of sixteen._

And now…

The tears rolled down her cheeks. " _Please don't make me do this…_ " She knew that Miyuki had another sword - one that he used for his assassination missions. And she knew that he was about to take it out with the way his other hand was reaching for it. " _Kazuya… Please don't… Please don't make me kill you._ "

Did she have any choice?

Was there no other way?

He remained unresponsive. She shut her eyes tightly, reliving all of her happiest memories with him. The moment she opened them again, she erased all signs of emotion from her heart and soul. She reached for her dagger slowly, waiting for him to make his move. ' _Kazuya… Will you forgive me…? Will you-_ ' She almost choked from her silent crying, despite her attempts to will her emotions away. ' _Will you...still love me?_ ' Her lip trembled. Her fingers grasped the hilt of her dagger shakily. The last of her tears trickled down her cheeks, blurring her vision a little. Her magic flowed into her blade - _the blade that will take the life of the one she loved most_.

When he threw his sword towards her, she let it stab the tree behind her as she let out a war cry, swinging her dagger towards him. The moment Masamune hit her dagger, she wondered briefly to herself as to why she was doing this - _why she was trying to kill him_. From her senses, the people that depended on her to ensure that the demon was in the right spot for the sealing twinkled like bright stars in her mind. ' _Ah… That's right… To protect-_ '

They swung their blades towards each other fiercely; she could not let her guard down at all costs. If Miyuki was already a difficult opponent to handle when he wasn't being controlled by the demon, then the controlled Miyuki was equally - if not, more - dangerous than before. Every time their blades met, Masamune rang loudly in a harsh manner, making her cringe from the sound. Perhaps, it was because of Masamune, but the Ancient One never once made a move to join the fight. That was when she noticed that something was absolutely wrong.

The Ancient One looked highly displeased for some reason. Because of this one second of not focusing on the fight, Miyuki kicked her stomach hard; she immediately pulled up a barrier to protect herself as she flew back into the trees. She coughed up blood when she accidentally bit herself. Miyuki walked towards her again before pausing in his steps. His lively brown eyes from before had dimmed even further. In fact, it looked almost too dark.

"Kazuya…" She managed to say.

He tilted his head, staring at her. He saw the way her blood stained her skin, the screams she let out when in pain, and the sorrowful determination that lingered in her eyes. Masamune glowed once more. Even though his eyes remained dull, he spoke for once, "Why do you look at me like that?"

"..." She didn't know what to say. The demon suddenly stood in front of her.

"I cannot control him…" He sounded displeased. "You are in the way of his full transformation."

Before she could argue about how he wanted to know the differences and that was why he tried to control Miyuki, he flung her into the air before a burst of untamed dark energy blasted from his hand and shoved her into darkness. She landed harshly on the ground - no longer moving. While she was able to protect herself with an ice barrier, it was not enough for her to stop the powerful physical impact of the blast. Blood seemed to cover her skin like a blanket. There was no end - _no beginning_.

In Miyuki's hand, Masamune let out a ringing cry, pulsing faster and faster. Miyuki approached her hesitantly. He dropped down to his knees and reached out with his hand. The moment his fingers touched her, something broke inside of him. He immediately snapped out of the Ancient One's control completely. The dark energy that took control of him earlier screamed in pain as he soon transformed it into his own dark energy. He stood up once more. Masamune glowed a dark blue as if expressing its mourning over the loss of its owner's warm merciful heart. "Masamune…" Miyuki's eyes darkened as he regained a part of his consciousness. "Masamune… Hear my cry…" It shook in his hand, letting out a loud ringing sound in response. "Destroy...all that will ruin this world and everything that _she loved_ in it _._ " Droplets of water floated up into the air, coming from the very ground, the ocean from afar, and the air around them. "I…" He faced the Ancient One. "I will _never_ forgive you."

The unnatural calm in his expression disturbed the demon. "To think that a human can subdue my energy and make it their own…" He trembled under the intense wave of magic that the water user let out without stop. Was this what fear was…?

Within seconds, Miyuki suddenly reached the demon without warning. He swung Masamune at him, not willing to give the monster a chance to defend itself. As he felt the blade slash at the demon's skin, the droplets of water chased after the demon, shooting out water blades to rip through flesh of the demon. Miyuki continued to relentlessly attack the Ancient One. He first jumped onto the droplets of water, using them as steps to give him more ground to fight, and then proceeded to hunt down the demon who intended to escape from him. "AS IF I'LL LET YOU LEAVE-"

Miyuki landed in front of the demon, stabbing him through the heart. However, he knew that the heart wasn't the best way to purify and kill a demon. _He had to be very thorough._

With the help of his katana, he pulled out the water inside of the demon's blood as he altered it to obey his own magic. Even though he could hear the uncontrollable screams from the so-called _powerful monster_ , he could care less. All he wanted was the demon _to feel, to cry, to beg, to fear, and to writhe from the pain - to be betrayed by what it trusts most - itself._ "Now you will know… The difference between you and me." He twisted his katana into the wound, gradually forming the water in the demon's blood that was still inside of the body into long spikes that would slowly rip through his organs and come out of his skin from the inside. "And now… You will regret to the very last second… You will wish that you never got out of Astrophel's seal. You will hate that you cannot stop your body from killing you inside and out. You will fear your impending doom in the dark - _all alone_. And I will _enjoy_ watching you die." The demon could no longer move the way he wanted to with the control Miyuki had over his blood.

"You…" The Ancient One gritted his teeth. "...are the devil." The chilling coldness in Miyuki's eyes seemed to be more sinister than the eyes of his subordinates.

"The devil…?" His hollow laughter made the demon shudder. "There's nothing wrong with becoming the devil... If being the devil will save her from death, then I will gladly give my soul to the darkness." He shoved the katana into the demon's chest some more, so that it would give him enough space to also grab the Ancient One's hair. He ended up twisting it inside of the wound and angling it to fit with what he wanted. He then dragged the monster from behind him, not letting the katana slip out of the wound. "Me? The devil?" He sharpened his gaze towards the demon. "Don't make me laugh."

By the time they reached a clearing where everyone was waiting, he threw the Ancient One in the middle of it by using his katana to swing him in that direction. Hotaru stared at the seriously injured demon with big eyes. " _Kazu...nii…?_ "

He turned around without looking at her. "Seal him for good."

She was about to call out to him again. "Ka-"

" _Hotaru._ " The cold look in his eyes stopped her. " _Now._ "

Hotaru quickly nodded towards everyone as they chanted loudly, feeling all of their magic weaving together. The bigger the magic grew, the louder the incantations seemed to sound. " _NOW-!_ " She cried out, signaling to everyone to complete the sealing. As a bright light consumed the paralyzed demon, all of the other demons that roamed inside of the barrier immediately teleported to the location of their leader in confusion. They suddenly fell to the ground, writhing in pain and screaming with all of their strength.

As Miyuki heard the finality of the sealing, he walked away without giving anyone an explanation. He dashed towards the location of where Nari laid. The moment he reached her, he picked her up from the ground and held her close. "…" The tears that he tried to hold back finally rolled down his cheeks, despite how cold his expression appeared to be. " _Nari…_ "

Even when he was forced to complete the missions during his harsh training, he never cried.

Even when people tried to bully him when he was younger, due to his seemingly odd personality and competence, he never cried.

But why did he not cry before?

It was because he had hope - hope that people would understand him and his motivations; hope that the future would become brighter than before as he reached his goals to change the world in his own way…

But now…

As he embraced the one he loved dearly, he lost all of his hope. Her cold body, her blood that no longer-

 _Her blood seemed to call out to him._

His eyes widened as he immediately focused on her blood.

It was pumping. It was moving through her veins. It was not coagulated - _IT WAS ALIVE._

At that moment, Nari let out a heavy breath. Her body heat began to rise up. He wondered briefly if it was all a dream. In seconds, she turned to the side and spat out something black from inside of her. She coughed multiple times before opening her eyes in confusion.

' _God, I feel like shit…_ ' Nari desperately wanted a drink of water to get the taste out of her mouth. She noticed the black sludge that had been inside of her. It was frozen from her own magic as it began to shatter into thin air. ' _Well… I guess my body shut down in order to purify that thing out of me. Damn…_ '

"Nari…?" Miyuki whispered out as if afraid that she would disappear from his touch. He swallowed hard.

She turned to face him. Shock was all over her face once she realized that he was back to normal. She hesitantly touched his face with her hand before tears automatically rolled down her cheeks. "You're… back…? Kazuya…?" He immediately pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Yes. The Ancient One and his subordinates have been sealed away. We won. We succeeded." He updated her without releasing her from his embrace. "And now… I'll seriously never let you go anymore."

She hugged him back. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you." She admitted, despite being fearful of him not accepting the way she coldly decided to do that.

"If you didn't, then I would've never forgiven you." She laughed freely after hearing those words from him.

"So we won…" Nari whispered.

"...I don't want to see you dead in front of me - ever again…" Miyuki murmured in her ear.

She leaned her forehead against his. " _Nos defendat. Tibi promitto._ "

" _Non fiet unum. Tibi promitto._ " He replied with a soft smile on his face.

" _Et ego promitto._ " They whispered to each other, remembering their vows to one another from the magic engagement ceremony - to reaffirm their loyalty and their truth to each other once more.

* * *

With the help of the Royal Family and the Noble Five, the truth about the war between humans and demons, about the true demons, and about the sacrifices that were made to protect humanity spread across the lands. While there was still some ignorance about the truth, the people remained at peace.

And just like what Nari's grandparents wanted, the humans began to see the demons and their territory as one country - rather than an abomination. As long as the humans did not bother them, the demons would not bother them. It was an accepted rule by all.

Meanwhile, at the Capital, celebrations were being held in the form of festivals with Hotaru at the forefront of enjoying it. As always, Shindo had to make sure that she wasn't bankrupting any of the stands, even though the festivals were celebrating the birth of the new crusaders and their recent victory with the specialists and the Demon King, which also included his generals.

"Hey!" Hotaru pouted up at Shindo as he took her away from another stand. "I wanted that teddy bear…"

"You could get that from _anywhere_ else without bankrupting that place," he responded.

"Whatever," she grumbled; there were so many fun and easy games around, yet he wouldn't allow her to play any of them for long.

He glanced back at her. "Don't sulk." Halting, he leaned down to place a peck on her lips.

"W-What was that for?! In-front of everyone too…" Hotaru's face was flushed and her lips were trembling.

Seeing this, he smirked. "You're still so _shy_ … It's endearing yet so frustrating."

"Frustrating?" She looked at him, confused and indiginated.

Shindo pulled her closer by the waist, earning him a yelp. "Well... It makes it harder to restrain myself when there are _so_ many things I could be doing to you right now."

Closing her eyes shut, she hid her face in his shirt as his chest rumbled with laughter.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to join Hotaru and Shindo at the festival?" Miyuki asked his fiancée quietly.

Nari snuggled closer to him in the bed with no intention of letting him leave. "The last time I did… There were too many people there… If you want to go though… I suppose I can go…"

He smiled and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "No, I don't really feel like going out today."

"Then let's laze around for a while in bed?" Nari closed her eyes as she sleepily smiled at him.

"If you want…" Miyuki held her closer in his arms. "You still need to heal from the battle anyways."

"Of course…" She mumbled, no longer really listening to his words. He also closed his eyes - _ready to join her in her sleep_.

After all… They had plenty of time to relax now...and they would most definitely use that to their advantage.

* * *

"Mariana, the dress looks really beautiful on you." Nari smiled; she turned her head a little to hide the tears that were ready to fall. She was most definitely not a morning person, considering that her emotions were seriously overwhelming her for once. Both of her best friends were getting married today. The one with the trauma of losing her previous teammates wore such a content smile on her face now.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Hotaru pouted at her first best friend. Once Nari got a hold of herself again, she stifled her laugh, making sure that Hotaru sat back down in her seat.

"You look fabulous in that dress. I'm sure you'll knock Shindo's socks off." She reassured her energetic friend.

"...Right." Hotaru raised an eyebrow at her before pouting. "Why don't you just marry Kazu-nii today too?! It would've been so much fun..."

' _Fun… Who gets married for fun._ ' Nari's lips twitched. "...Not today. Eventually. We'll take our time with it. Not in a rush to get married anyways. Now… Enough about me! You two, are you ready to get married?"

Mariana's eyes twinkled with excitement. "Yes. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it'll work out fine."

"I CAN'T WAIT! OMG, I might puke-" Hotaru pulled on Nari's arm, shaking it up and down vigorously.

Nari's eye twitched. "Please don't puke. We can't redo your makeup and everything now."

She pouted. "Fine."

"I'm going to go out now. Have fun, you two. I'll be enjoying the joint wedding at its finest." Nari waved at them casually as she headed for the door.

"See you later, Nari!" Both brides said in joyful tones.

* * *

Shindo stood rigidly by the door and Astrophel looked out the window, leaning against the wall. Miyuki raised an eyebrow at both. "Nervous?" He asked.

They both silently stared at him before moving their gaze to nothing in particular.

"I suppose I am." Astrophel admitted to them. "I never expected to get married in my life."

Shindo let out a dry laugh. "Tell me about it. I still wonder if this is all a dream for some reason."

"That sounds ominous. Don't say that." Astrophel muttered under his breath.

Miyuki only shrugged and looked on with amusement. "Continue."

They glared at him. "We aren't entertainment, Miyuki."

"Makes me wish it was already your wedding with Nari, so that I can look at you as entertainment." The Demon King's eyebrow twitched.

"I look forward to that because you'll be thoroughly disappointed when I don't." Miyuki chuckled before throwing up his hand. "Good luck out there." He waved and then shoved his hands into his pockets, leaving the room.

* * *

"Am I late?" Miyuki whispered to Nari as he sat down next to her.

She shook her head and held onto his hand, leaning against him comfortably. She sighed a little, looking a bit sleepy. "It's too early in the morning for this." He smiled with amusement, patting her head in a comforting manner. "I can't wait to go back to sleep already."

"Me too." He murmured to her.

Colorful flowers gently flew around, shimmering with dew. The subtle floral smell lingered in the air as the light flowing music enraptured everyone's attention. It was not until someone called out that the two brides would be entering.

Hotaru's wedding dress gown exuded her femininity - thanks to the fitted bodice and hips. The upper part of her torso was covered by an illusive lace, framing her face, as it led to a partially open back. Her white dress was covered with vintage lace, creating an alluring appearance. She smiled shyly as she approached the podium. Her cheeks lightly flushed pink. She held her decorated flower bouquet in her hands. Her long sleek veil fell close to her body as it appeared light as air and yet, subtly striking to the eyes.

Behind her, Mariana wore a white dress, which contained a v-neck lace upper garment that was paired with a more fluffed out and shapely sheer woven skirt. In between the linings of the upper garment and her skirt, a silver band wrapped around her as its small white pearls sprinkled across it. Flower lace covered her upper garment, complementing the row of covered buttons that trailed from the plunging illusion back of her dress. Her understated and yet dramatic veil is trimmed with a white satin ribbon, creating an ethereal image of the bride. She held her simple flower bouquet as she walked across the path.

When it was time for the grooms to enter, everyone waited eagerly. "IT'S TIME!" The person called out to the grooms as the two males then walked along the path in a surprisingly relaxed manner. With a clean sharp look, their black suit and white shirt getup worked well to complement their slicked back hair or tied hair. Shindo finally stood next to Hotaru while Astrophel stood next to Mariana.

All four faced the minister together.

As the grooms each said their vows to their respective partners, the brides also said theirs in a clear voice. Smiles erupted on their faces - _no longer able to contain the happiness they felt about their futures together_.

The beautiful clear sounds of the wedding bells suddenly rung through the air - blessing them all - as the gorgeous sun started to rise from the horizon. The residue of pastel orange, pink, and purple continued to stain the light blue sky; the two brides' shadows soon intertwined with their partners, creating the illusion that there was only one big shadow.

Everyone held their breath.

" _And now… You may kiss the bride._ "

 _ **END.**_

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who story alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story.**

 **Hope to see more reviews, favorites, or follows in the near future! After all, my co-writer and I will be looking forward to seeing them~!**


End file.
